Brits flog King Charles banknotes for high prices in money-making scheme

Opportunistic Brits are seizing the opportunity to cash in on the newly-released King Charles III banknotes, listing them for lofty prices on eBay.

The £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes were introduced into circulation on June 5 and are gradually becoming more common in our wallets. However, some people are hoping to profit from their current rarity, with the most audacious aiming to fetch at least £10,000 for a Charles tenner.

One eBay user, who has no feedback, has listed a single £10 note with a starting price of £10,000, offering a ‘Buy It Now’ option for a whopping £25 grand. Another seller also has a £10,000 listing but is open to ‘Best Offers’.

Numerous others have listed additional notes asking for smaller four-figure sums. The first banknotes featuring the King, marked with the serial number CA 01, are particularly sought after by collectors.

One such note, bearing the serial number CA 01 000003, fetched an impressive £11,000 earlier this month at a charity auction hosted by Spink and Sons.

However, the two priciest listings on eBay feature much later mints, with serial numbers HB 39 280792 and HB 47 376076. Another hopeful seller is asking for £2,800 for their creased £5 note, describing it in the product description as a “Rare one of a kind. Good investment.”

Speaking before the release of the new designs, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said: “I am very proud that the Bank is releasing the design of our new banknotes which will carry a portrait of King Charles III. This is a significant moment, as the King is only the second monarch to feature on our banknotes. People will be able to use these new notes as they start to enter circulation in 2024.”

The Bank of England has also confirmed that existing banknotes featuring the late Queen Elizabeth II will continue to be legal tender, allowing them to be used for transactions alongside the forthcoming currency. The aesthetics of the notes’ reverse sides will endure, carrying the likenesses of Winston Churchill, Jane Austen, JMW Turner, and Alan Turing on the £5, £10, £20, and £50 denominations, respectively, maintaining the current colour scheme.