Rare Pudsey fiver designed by Dundee schoolgirl expected to reach £16,000 at auction

A limited edition Bank of Scotland five pound note designed by a Scottish schoolgirl is expected to fetch a staggering £16,000 at auction next month.

The rare fiver, which features a picture of Pudsey Bear raising a Saltire flag, was one of the first polymer notes issued on 17 July 2015.

The Pudsey design was created by 12-year-old Kayla Robson from Dundee, who won a Bank of Scotland competition in partnership with the BBC Children in Need charity.

Despite being technically worth £5.00 in the shops, due to its rarity collectors are expected to bid £12,000-16,000 when it comes up for sale at Dix Noonan Webb’s British and Irish Banknotes auction in London on March 28.

The note is one of only 50 that were hand produced using the specially created design to celebrate the move to polymer and the Bank’s partnership with BBC Children in Need.

It shows Children in Need mascot Pudsey with his trademark eyepatch wearing tartan trousers and holding up a Saltire flag.

On the reverse is a portrait of Sir Walter Scott and the Bank of Scotland’s head office on The Mound in Edinburgh.

The note, which bears the serial number “PUDSEY05”, is being sold with its original presentation wallet and certificate of authenticity.

Andrew Pattison, head of banknotes at auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, said: “The Pudsey Bear notes were sold a few years ago for charity and a lot of people thought they were a bit of a gimmick, but since they are technically legal tender — despite there only being 50 of them in existence — anyone who collects Polymer Plastic Banknotes wants to own one.

“As a result, prices have absolutely rocketed since the first auction. This one, serial number 5, originally sold for only around £1500, but is now worth around ten times that amount.”

The note was one of a limited edition of 50 with unique serial numbers. The first 40 used the code PUDSEY01 to PUDSEY40 while the remaining ten were to be personalised to buyers.