A collection of rare banknotes donated to a British Heart Foundation shop in Edinburgh has raised £85,860 at auction for the charity.

The collection of 160 notes from across the world was donated anonymously to the charity’s store on Straiton Retail Park in the city.

It’s manager David McCormack said: “When the donation came into the shop, we all looked through the folders but didn’t know much about the banknotes, so we sent them to our eBay team in Leeds to investigate.

“When we discovered their potential value, we were flabbergasted.”

The collection features specimen and trial banknotes, including a rare uncirculated note featuring a portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth II that had been issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency for Malaya and British Borneo.

A rare 1940s Iraqi Dinars colour trial and a specimen 100 Riyal note from Saudi Arabia were among other highlights for collectors at the auction, which took place this week and saw auction house Noonans waive their commission.

“We are incredibly grateful to the donor who chose to entrust these remarkable banknotes to us, and to our brilliant shop team in Edinburgh who recognised that there was something very special about this donation,” said BHF chief commercial officer Allison Swaine-Hughes.

"It's wonderful to think that a collection generously handed into one of our charity shops can go on to raise such a fantastic amount for lifesaving research.”

Noonans head of banknote Andrew Pattison added: “Material of this quality is extremely rare and collectors all over the world have responded extremely well, with many of the notes selling for that little bit more than normal on account of the charitable nature of the sale."

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