The Plastic Fiver

[father_jack]

Used to get them presented on trains from Manchester Airport, mostly by visitors from the Far East for some reason. Provided I had sufficient change it didn't bother me.

Loads of £50 notes turn up around this time of year with literally hundreds of YP railcards being sold to mostly chinese students just arrived.

Staying on topic, little stickers are to be sent around for SHERE and S&B tvms saying 12 cornered pound coins and polymer £5 notes won't be accepted.

Lastly, someone said about forged £20 notes going around, not very common- but I took one yesterday. Well I didn't "take" it as payment but confiscated it and sent it to BTP. A quick google of AH03258333 will show you that oddly the only previous instance of the same serial number coming to attention was in 2013 so it must be floating around in circulation since then. And I made a good spot !!!!

 

[trainmania100]

I got my first polymer £5 note today (well, two actually) from a Sainsburys cashpoint with serial number AJ09
They feel plastic, they look plastic and they look smaller than the paper ones...
Im going to keep my two preserved for years and say these were my first plastic fivers.

 

[tsr]

I got my first polymer £5 note today (well, two actually) from a Sainsburys cashpoint with serial number AJ09
They feel plastic, they look plastic and they look smaller than the paper ones...
Im going to keep my two preserved for years and say these were my first plastic fivers.

Funnily enough I got my first one from a Sainsbury's self-service checkout in London today. I expected to see one or two at work but it's been one of those weeks where everyone seems to have been using cards.

(Don't worry, everyone - it wasn't the change from buying a meal deal... ).

 

[Groningen]

According to a Dutch newspaper some new 5 Pounds notes have been sold for 200.

 

[Bedpan]

The value is dependent on the serial number. The first one was AA01 000001, which was donated to the Queen. Then AA01 000002 to AA01 999999, AA02 000001 to AA02 999999 etc. So the earlier in the series, the greater the value, although apparently ones with numerical sequences are also worth more than face value.

I got my first one today in a French market of all places, it was AA12 so they must have printed over 11 million by now.

 

[ainsworth74]

I can report that the notes stand up very well to going through the washing machine. 40 degrees Celsius and a 1600RPM spin cycle and you couldn't have told that it had been washed!

 

[Dent]

I got my first one today in a French market of all places, it was AA12 so they must have printed over 11 million by now.

There are a lot more than that, I got one yesterday starting AK.

 

[bb21]

According to a Dutch newspaper some new 5 Pounds notes have been sold for 200.

It's stupid. A £5 note with header AA01 and a random serial number is not going to be worth much at any time. There are after all a million of them. Only selected ones in the AA01 series will fetch good value, eg. any between 1 and 999, or even possibly 9999, AA01 111111, AA01 123456, etc. Can't see AA01 142858 fetching much (142857 perhaps but almost certainly not 142858).

AK47 000001 will be worth more than AA01 plus a random serial number. The craze is simply stupid.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

There are a lot more than that, I got one yesterday starting AK.

There are 440 million of these things already produced although not all will have been released into circulation yet.

 

[swt class 450]

I got my very first new plastic £5 note today at W H Smith in Dorking. AJ50 012361 is the serial number. Its very interesting to see and feel one. It really feels like toy money and is much smaller. It reminds me of Nigerian Naira which i believe is plastic as well.

 

[trainmania100]

I got another two today from Saintsbury's again.
All of my 4 are AJ19 serial
I don't plan to spend my notes , I want t keep them preserved so in ten years time there won't be many A serials left and mine will be valuable

 

[swt class 450]

I got another two today from Saintsbury's again.
All of my 4 are AJ19 serial
I don't plan to spend my notes , I want t keep them preserved so in ten years time there won't be many A serials left and mine will be valuable

Good idea. Personaly i am still hoping to get hold of an AA** ****** new £5 banknote.

 

[trainmania100]

Good idea. Personaly i am still hoping to get hold of an AA** ****** new £5 banknote.

I'm sure there are loads of people who don't Google plastic fiver and just spend AA notes out of their nose
There must be a few thousand still in circulation
I wouldn't mind an AA or an AB note but anything starting with A is going to be rarer every second that passes

 

[father_jack]

I'm sure there are loads of people who don't Google plastic fiver and just spend AA notes out of their nose
There must be a few thousand still in circulation
I wouldn't mind an AA or an AB note but anything starting with A is going to be rarer every second that passes

How many people are still spending Kew Gardens 50p unaware of how much more than 50p they are worth ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kew-garde...927618?hash=item25c4494b02:g:c7wAAOSwmLlX3Y~o

 

[me123]

Bear in mind that the £5 notes are meant to be more durable than their predecessors and hence the "low serial number" notes will be in circulation for longer.

It's also important to remember that the number of people interested in low serial number banknotes is not that high, I'd expect that supply may well exceed demand.

 

[trainmania100]

How many people are still spending Kew Gardens 50p unaware of how much more than 50p they are worth ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kew-garde...927618?hash=item25c4494b02:g:c7wAAOSwmLlX3Y~o

Must be a few hundred at least
Luckily I came across a second Benjamin Britten 50p after my sister spent my one selfishly
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Bear in mind that the £5 notes are meant to be more durable than their predecessors and hence the "low serial number" notes will be in circulation for longer.

It's also important to remember that the number of people interested in low serial number banknotes is not that high, I'd expect that supply may well exceed demand.

Ah I'm sure there will be something that causes damage. Perhaps washed away, or burnt

 

[swt class 450]

Just wondering would it be possible to go in to a bank and ask if they have any AA01 ****** banknotes? Or would they not want to go looking for them?

 

[trainmania100]

Just wondering would it be possible to go in to a bank and ask if they have any AA01 ****** banknotes? Or would they not want to go looking for them?

They probably wont have, the AA bank notes are already in circulation. Most places are distributing AH AK AL area now unless I'm mistaken. You could ask them to check all of theircash draws , and check each one but its unlikely they'll have any
Its worth a try though

 

[swt class 450]

They probably wont have, the AA bank notes are already in circulation. Most places are distributing AH AK AL area now unless I'm mistaken. You could ask them to check all of theircash draws , and check each one but its unlikely they'll have any
Its worth a try though

Yes thats true. As you previously said im sure there are lots of people who are spending them and not realising their value so i may get one as change in a shop. Or i could buy one on ebay but they seem very expensive.

Have the very low serial numbers (such as the first 100 notes) gone in to circulation or are some of the low ones being withheld?

 

[trainmania100]

Yes thats true. As you previously said im sure there are lots of people who are spending them and not realising their value so i may get one as change in a shop. Or i could buy one on ebay but they seem very expensive.

Have the very low serial numbers (such as the first 100 notes) gone in to circulation or are some of the low ones being withheld?

The lowest, 00000001 is held by her majesty the Queen.

(Not that she needs it, but it's nice to put in a frame, as she is of course featured on it ).

I think others are also reserved.

 

[E_Reeves]

Heard a story from a relative that somebody asked if they had any new fivers in the building society, and the building society replied that they hadn't seen any of them yet.

 

[causton]

People keep asking us for them but we only really have what come out of the TVMs... which haven't yet been modified to take them and won't until the end of the month (or so they say!)

 

[bb21]

I wouldn't mind an AA or an AB note but anything starting with A is going to be rarer every second that passes

You'll be waiting a long time. A-series numbers will be in existence for a long time.

Have you noticed how many starting letters there are on tenners or twenties? They don't all start from A and certainly don't go all the way from A to Z.

A-series will comprise a significant proportion of £5 polymer notes in circulation.

As I already commented earlier, AA01 plus a random number is generally worth no more than its face value, once this hype has subsided.

 

[Crossover]

I can report that the notes stand up very well to going through the washing machine. 40 degrees Celsius and a 1600RPM spin cycle and you couldn't have told that it had been washed!

If they were the two you had on Saturday, I would agree!

 

[thejuggler]

They also survive being dipped in fresh hot coffee and coca cola. The joys of a child and their experiments!

 

[Butts]

They also survive being dipped in fresh hot coffee and coca cola. The joys of a child and their experiments!

What are they like for use with the other type of coke ?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

What are they like for use with the other type of coke ?

I think that's enough experimentation with what the note can withstand; we have to draw a line somewhere...

 

[ainsworth74]

If they were the two you had on Saturday, I would agree!

One of them was! I wasn't willing to risk £10 in case they didn't perform as advertised

 

[jon0844]

we have to draw a line somewhere...[emoji38]

Just don't use a water based pen, as it will wash off!

 

[crispy1978]

My wife got one a while back - refuses to spend it! Got loads of those unusual design coins as well that are rare - has a coin holder for them, and thinks they are significantly more valuable!

Was in a Cantonese restaurant recently, and they were giving the plastic fiver very suspicious looks!