Manager of cafe accidentally gives away engraved £5 note worth up to £50,000

New fiver: The rare note has a special engraving on it
Joe Giddens/PA
Chloe Chaplain14 December 2016

A café manager accidentally gave away a rare £5 note worth up to £50,000 as change to one of his customers.

The note is embellished with a tiny portrait of Jane Austen, engraved by acclaimed artist Graham Short.

After engraving the fiver, Mr Short - who is famous for his miniature pieces that are worth up to £50,000 - then spent it at a café in Blackwood, Wales, without telling staff.

By the time the restaurant’s manager found out about it, it had already disappeared from the till.

Rare note: The fiver was engraved with an image of novelist Jane Austen
EPA

Cafe manager Josh Ince, 33, told Wales Online: “We didn’t even know about it until Monday, one of our staff heard it on the news.

“I told everyone to check all the fivers but it wasn’t there.

“No one noticed at the time but when we saw a picture of him online some of the staff recognised him. He came and had a sausage and egg sandwich.”

Mr Short, 70, only engraved four notes in total – with one of each being spent in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland.

He said: “I’ve no idea how much they will be worth but £20,000 is a conservative estimate - previous pieces I’ve done have been insured for more than £50,000 and the last work, the portrait of HM The Queen on the eye of a needle fetched £100,000.

“So, we came up with the idea of putting a note into each of the countries and I had a nice trip to Blackwood last week to spend one in the Square Café.

"Now, I’m just hoping someone finds it in time to get some extra money for Christmas.”

New GBP £5 Note - In pictures

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