As part of their multi-day end-of-March World Paper Money Showcase Auction, Heritage featured 52 notes that picture the late Queen Elizabeth II. The Balmoral Collection of Queen Elizabeth II covered notes issued during her 70-year reign.

The carefully curated collection provided a numismatic timeline of Her Majesty’s period of rule, with a wide-reaching, international span of notes. Pieces represented more than 35 countries and territories, and even some of the lesser-known notes held attraction for collectors and history buffs.

“Banknotes featuring Queen Elizabeth II represent an opportunity for a completely global collection,” said Dustin Johnston, Vice President of Numismatics at Heritage Auctions. “Because the British Commonwealth once included so many different nations around the world, and because she ruled for seven decades, she has been represented on an extraordinary range of banknotes from nations around the globe.”

Topping the sales was a Specimen £20 note issued on January 11, 1958, by the government of Fiji. Graded PMG Choice Uncirculated 64, the note is considered to be Fiji’s famously rare highest denomination note featuring Queen Elizabeth II, which exists in both issued and Specimen format. This excellent Specimen created by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company carries the second and final date of the denomination, with a serial number range of 25,000 units to be printed and issued. The perforated cancellation and mounting remnants on this Specimen are mentioned for accuracy. With the buyer’s premium, the note sold for $6,000.

One attraction noticed before the sale was one of the famous “Devil’s Face” notes issued by the Bank of Canada. (The “Devil’s Face” portrait from 1954 was used on all seven denominations of Bank of Canada notes, from $1 to $1,000.) The design earns its moniker from shading in the Queen’s hair that seems to display a snarling devil’s face. Notes with the design were issued for both circulation and also marked as specimens, used for presentation or to become familiar with the design.

The Devil’s Face $1,000 specimen note offered is only the ninth example offered by Heritage Auctions. This example is void of serial numbers and signatures. Graded by PCGS Banknote as Specimen Choice Uncirculated 63, it sold for $5,520.

The British Commonwealth included the multi-island nation of the Bahamas, which featured the queen on bank notes beginning in 1953, early in her reign. The note from the Balmoral Collection features the nation’s highest denomination, $100, and was issued for the second series of that denomination to picture the queen. A similar portrait appeared on the 1965 issues, and the portrait was retained for the updated 1974 issue. The queen remained on the face of the $100 note until being replaced by Bahamian Governor Arthur Dion Hanna in 2021.

The $100 note sold was graded PMG Choice Very Fine 35, but represented one of only seven notes of this issue and denomination graded by PMG. Heritage notes, “Print totals are small, with only a few hundred thousand notes printed, all with prefix A. This example presents excellently, with bright colors and clean margins.” The final price, with buyer’s premium, was $4,800. The price matched another Bahamas note in the sale, a low serial number $50 note from 1965 graded PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 Exceptional Paper Quality; only three examples from the issue are graded finer in the PMG population report.

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