The most expensive banknote depicting Queen Elizabeth II is set to sell at auction

The banknote will go under the hammer at a Noonans auction this weekend. The note dates back to March 21, 1953 and will go up for sale

A $1,000 banknote from the Board of Commissioners of Currency of Malaya and British Borneo is set to sell for an expected £90,000 at Noonans this weekend.

The note will form part of the third and final part of the legendary Frank Goon Reference Collection of British Malayan Banknotes - one of the greatest collections of all time - which will take place at Orchid Junior Ballroom, Level 4, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

The note dates back to March 21, 1953 and will go up for sale with an estimate between £60,000 and £90,000.

It is part of the sale of the third and final part of the legendary Frank Goon Reference Collection of British Malayan Banknotes - one of the greatest collections of all time - which will take place at Orchid Junior Ballroom, Level 4, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Barnaby Faull, Senior Specialist in the Banknotes Department at Noonans, explains: “This utterly iconic Malaya & British Borneo $1000 features a beautiful portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

“Issued in 1953, in the first two years of her reign, this high denomination note has always been highly sought after by collectors and this, the finest surviving example, is sure to attract a huge amount of attention.

“It is the most expensive note to bear the portrait of Elizabeth II as Queen” and is the first time that this particular note has been offered for sale at public auction

The Frank Goon collection has covered banknotes of Malaya, The Straits Settlements, Sarawak, British North Borneo, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei and the previous two parts comprising 538 notes have realised a combined total of £2,360,815.

What makes a coin valuable?

The 50 pence piece has become the most valued and collected coin in the UK, with many collectable designs appearing on its heptagonal canvas.

Its 27.5mm diameter makes it the largest of any British coin, and allows space for decorative pictures. It has often been used to celebrate big events over the past 50 years of British history.

The rarest coins tend to be of the greatest value, with the mintage (number of coins with each design made) being the fundamental attraction for collectors.

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Along with the design, other aspects of the coin which increase value are the condition of the coin and whether it has an error in its design.

The way in which it is sold can also determine the coin’s value - while some coin collectors will bid vast amounts of money on eBay or at auction, others opt for more robust valuations by selling via a coin dealer.

Rarest 50p coins in circulation the UK?

The Royal Mint has revealed the most valuable 50p coins in its collection.

One of the rarest is the Kew’s Garden 50p, which was designed to mark the 250th anniversary of the gardens in 2009. Only 210,000 coins were ever minted with this design.

The Kew Gardens 50p sells for £156.25 on average, but one seller received over £700 for one when he sold it on eBay.

The other rarest coins stem predominantly from the 2011 Olympics, with the wrestling, football and judo coins among the most valuable. Only 1.1million of each of these coins were produced.

Flopsy bunny and Peter Rabbit designs which were produced in 2018 are also highly valuable.

These coins - 1.4 million of which were minted - depict the characters from Beatrix Potter’s novels and celebrate the life of the English writer and these sell for around £5.

In 2019, 500 million coins were produced, with three new 50p designs.

These included one of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Paddington Bear at St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London.

Top 10 most valuable 50p coins, according to Royal Mint

Here is a list of the top 10 most valuable coins, when they were made and how many were minted:

Atlantic Salmon (2023), 200,000

Kew Gardens (2009), 210,000

Olympic Wrestling (2011), 1,129,500

Olympic Football (2011), 1,16