The Coins, Tokens and Banknotes Sale, held at Tennants Auctioneers on 22nd November, featured a robust banknote section, led by a very interesting lot featuring an assortment of rare Hudson’s Bay Company Promissory Notes, which sold for £1,900 (plus buyer’s premium) against an estimate of £200-300. The lot comprised two five-shilling notes from 1832, a one shilling note from 1845, and a one-pound note from 1857. Hudson Bay Company series notes were signed and dated twice, first by the company secretary in London, then in Canada at York Factory, Manitoba, where they were countersigned and dated by local officials. These notes were the principal medium of exchange in the Red River Colony (roughly around present-day Manitoba) up until 1870, when the Canadian dollar superseded them. The present notes were believed to have been found circa 1910 in a consignment of fur skins delivered to the company’s head office at Beaver Hill in the City of London. Also selling well amongst the banknotes in the sale was an Extensive Scottish Banknote Album, containing approximately 100 notes, which sold for £1,500.
