£5 or £50,000?
Not all of the new £5 bank notes are equal; four banknotes with a miniature portrait of Jane Austen were released into circulation and are now considered a collector’s item. Two of them have been uncovered and verified–one spent in a cafe in Wales and the other accidentally gifted in a Christmas card. Queen Elizabeth was given a fifth note. Engraved with the work of a famous artist and a unique quotation from Austen’s works, this leads one to question where the division between art and currency lies? What does it mean for a note to have a set denominational value but considered to be worth £50,000? Does it gain this value only when recognized and removed from circulation?
Contributed by KatiePfeiffer on 23/01/2017
