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Auction: 326 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 967

Great Britain. Fort Montague Bank, Knaresborough. Five Halfpence. Aug. 11, 1802. No. 12542. In the name of Governor T. Hill. There was never an actual Fort Montague Bank. From 1770 to 1791, linen-weaver Thomas Hill and his son carved a home out of a limestone crag along the River Nidd in Knaresborough in North Yorkshire. Their curious dwelling resembled a fortification and was dubbed Fort Montague. It became a tourist attraction and Hill's son, also named Thomas and as eccentric as his father, knighted himself and began printing "banknotes" for visitors. These notes were purely for fun, although some contemporary reprobates attempted to use them to deceive as evidenced by a warning issued by the Mayor's Chamber, Newcastle in 1816 noting that swindlers at the Fair were passing off fictitious Fort Montague Bank notes as real. Corner tips missing from old mounting, otherwise VF.

Sold for
$85