Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LONDON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A rare million-pound banknote sold for 78,300 pounds, or about $138,000, at a London auction, but the price had nothing to do with the global credit crisis. The note -- known as No. 8 and believed to be one of only two in existence -- was valid for only six weeks after Britain issued it Aug. 30, 1948, as part of the U.S. Marshall Plan to rebuild and strengthen allied European countries after World War II, Spink auction house said. Advertisement The series of eight U.S. and British banknotes was intended for internal use as "records of movement," Spink said. No. 8 was originally given to British Treasury Secretary E.E. Bridges, whose signature it bears, but it left the family some years ago, Spink said. In any case, Bridges' signature was canceled by the Bank of England Oct. 6, 1948. The note -- whose face value would be worth $1.77 million today -- had been expected to fetch around $70,000, but competitive bidding pushed the price to $138,300, The Times of London said. Spink -- which specializes auctioning coins, stamps, medals and banknotes -- did not say who the winning bidder was. Advertisement A similar U.S. note sold at Christie's in 1991 for about $40,000. "Guinness World Records" lists the British note as being the highest denomination in private ownership.
