Bank of Experience, £5, 10 February 1839, serial number 55, signature of Leukin Jones, the note promises to ‘pay on demand for the Governor of the World the sum of five pounds to any person who can find a better paper than the Paul Pry or, a greater fool than the bearer of this note’, very good and rare
Outing unlisted £150-£200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Sir David Kirch Collection of Skit Notes.

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This note was very likely produced in the United States, and was intended to advertise the New York satirical newspaper entitled Paul Pry. The name Paul Pry was a well known joke in the 19th century and would have been understood by all, and simply meant a nosy or enquiring person. There were numerous plays, newspapers and even a few pubs of this name, but the cataloguer can only find one newspaper that fits with the date on the note.