THREE historic bank-notes issued by old Oxfordshire banks are expected to fetch far in excess of their original face value in an auction.

The notes, issued between 1806 and 1913, with a total face value of £12, could fetch as much as £1,500 when they go under the hammer next week.

Among a collection of almost 300 notes up for sale in London are three from the county, including a 19th-century £1 note from Burford Bank, an 1806 £1 note from Woodstock Bank and a particularly rare £10 note issued in Witney in 1913.

Michael O’Grady, of auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, explained: “Bank-notes have been around for 300 years and the banking system grew up around the Industrial Revolution. There were small banks everywhere around the country, offering finance for the local area.

“Usually older things are more valuable, but so many of these banks failed, it’s what survived the longest that’s the rarest.

“Examples from the early 20th century, like the note from Witney, are generally rarer than those from the 19th century.”

The Witney Bank tenner is expected to fetch between £600 and £800.

The Woodstock note, which is signed by a Joseph Brooks and was produced a year before Woodstock Bank went out of business, has an estimate of £250 to £300.

Mr O’Grady said the £1 from Burford Bank could also make £250 to £300.

He added: “The Bank of England began producing paper money in the early 20th century but its influence didn’t really spread much outside London and parts of Lancashire.

“Paper money tended to be from local banks spread throughout the country. The last of these bank-notes were issued in 1921.

The auction is at the Washington Hotel in Curzon Street, London, on Tuesday, at 10am.

For more details of the auction, see dnw.co.uk