Bilston five-bob note goes for £528

A 200-year-old five-shilling note issued when Bilston printed its own money has been sold for £528 at an auction in London.

The note, which displays the words "Bilston, Staffordshire", is worth 25p in today's money.

Auctioneers described it as "rare and in a fine condition".

At the same sale held by the Spink auction house, two £1 notes issued by Wolverhampton Old Bank in 1813 and 1814 sold for £180.

All three were among 250 banknotes sold by millionaire Lancashire businessman Bill Parkinson.

The 68-year-old's collection went for a total of £571,000. The highlight was a £1 million note issued by the Treasury in 1948.

Only two are in existence. The £1 million note sold for £78,300.

A world record for an English provincial banknote was set by Spink in 2004 when a 1929 Wirksworth and Ashbourn fiver sold for £3,335 – nearly seven times more than the £500 first predicted.

The auction house has also sold several Wolverhampton Old Bank notes in the past.

A rare £5 produced during Queen Victoria's reign went up for grabs four years ago.

The valuable Victorian black-and-white note, emblazoned with the name Wolverhampton, was manufactured when the town still made its own money.

Barnaby Faull of Spink said: "All towns and cities in England used to issue their own banknotes.

"Merchants would get together in the towns and start up their own banks but their notes, which were like IOUs, could only be used locally. When the local banks went bust, the notes became completely worthless."

Wolverhampton Old Bank was taken over by Midland Bank in 1863.