REVIEW: BANKNOTES 26 & 27 MAY 2022

Skit notes were often created for promotional, satirical or political purposes and often humorous. Occasionally as with examples in Noonans’ 26 & 27 May Banknotes auction, they were an attempt at creating local currency.

Skit notes were often created for promotional, satirical or political purposes and sometimes humorous. Occasionally, as with examples in Noonans’ 26 & 27 May Banknotes auction, they were an attempt at creating local currency.

The general concept was to encourage local investment by selling local notes or tokens, which could then be used to purchase local goods and services, keeping investment in the very local economy.

This was the case when local authorities set out to overcome cost of living crises in the early 1930s.

One example in the auction comes from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and dates to 1932.

An accompanying 1970s article from the Surrey Comet, the local newspaper, explains how it had been found under floor lino during renovation works at a house in Chessington on the edge of the borough.

The newspaper also uncovered the history of the note, which had been printed as part of a proposed scheme inspired by a Canadian project.

The municipal note issue had been the brainchild of Councillor J.W. Barker, one of Kingston’s first Labour representatives. Barker believed that such a scheme would solve all of the corporation’s financial woes under the motto ‘Release crucified mankind from the cross of poverty’.

“I think the idea was discussed for a few months and then it fizzled out,” corporation auditor Kenneth Lyddon told the Comet in the 1970s. “It took no account of public confidence in the currency. It would have been worthless because no one would have accepted or used it.”

Even then, though, the Comet and Mr Lyddon recognised its collectable potential, noting that it might make anything between £10 and £100 at auction.

Consigned to Noonans 26 & 27 May Banknotes auction as part of the David Kirch Collection of Skit Notes, the Kingston note was estimated at £150-£200.
The hammer came down at £320.

“Skit notes have been appearing in auctions and dealers lists for decades, with few people entirely sure how to list or categorise them,” says Andrew Pattison. “These documents, for it is technically incorrect to call them banknotes, are remarkable pieces of social history. They give us snapshots into the cares, fears, livelihoods, humour and pastimes of those who lived and worked in the British Isles for the last several hundred years.”