I found £100 shoved in a bag of old charity shop wares – turns out it’s worth £10,000s MORE than I thought

A MAN who found a £100 shoved in a bag of old charity shop wares has now now sold it for £140,000.

Volunteer Paul Wyman was in his store in Brentwood, Essex, when he spotted a rare Palestine bank note in a box of donations.

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Lucky Paul stumbled upon the £100 note tucked away in a set of wares donated to his Oxfam shop.

Suspecting it could be worth something, the savvy employee decided not to put it on display and have it valued instead.

And it turned out to be worth £30,000 – but it sold for a whopping £140,000 when it went under the hammer at Spink in London.

Paul said: “I realised that I was holding something in my hands that was incredibly rare.

“I couldn’t believe it when it went for £140,000.”

The rare banknote was issued during the British Mandate in Palestine in 1927, issued by the League of Nations in 1920.

According to experts, the note is one of less than 10 known to exist.

Elaine Fung, a banknote specialist for Spink, said: “Less than ten of these banknotes are known to exist.

“It would have been issued to a high ranking official at the time as a token of appreciation for their services.”

The incredibly rare note was assessed at the auction house in February 2022 after the anonymous donor left the item at the shop in October 2020.

Paul watched in shock the auction online from his home.

He added: “The auctioneers originally valued it at £30,000 and I was amazed at that already – never mind £140,000.

“Up until then I don’t think I really believed it could be a real note because they are so incredibly rare.”

Punters from all over the world – including the US and the Middle East – tried to nab the brilliant item.

Paul now plans to donate the proceeds towards Oxfam’s charitable work.

He explained: “It’s brilliant to know I played a part in raising so much money for Oxfam’s work helping the world’s poorest people.”

Lorna Fallon, retail director for Oxfam, said: “We are so grateful to Paul and the Brentwood shop team for spotting this banknote, not to mention the generous member of the public who donated it to us.

“We are delighted that the banknote has raised so much money for Oxfam’s work around the world, which includes helping people in East Africa who are at risk of famine, and assisting refugees from Ukraine.”

It comes as an incredibly rare £100 banknote from a century ago found in “spectacular” condition is now set to sell for an eye-watering sum.

The note’s face value is £100 and it was signed by Horace G Bowen who was chief cashier between 1893 and 1902.

Rare coins and valuable notes – is yours worth a mint?

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk