Manchester & Gibralter Bank, for the Governor of the Gibralter Hotel, Pall Mall, a note promising to pay the bearer 2 Pence for winnings at Bagatelle, Manchester, 17 January 1810, serial number 1639, signed by William Murray, with a very nicely printed and ornate vignette of a contemporary steam train in a crowned frame at top left, partially stuck on card, very good, extremely rare and a wonderful item
Outing unlisted £240-£300

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Sir David Kirch Collection of Skit Notes.

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Bagatelle was a very popular 19th century precursor to Bar Billiards, and this note may actually be serious in promising to pay the bearer two pence for winning at it. The reasons for the naming of the note, and the subject matter of the vignette are unclear, but there was once a Gibralter Street in Manchester, and it was right next to the new Victoria Railway station in 1840. There may have been a Hotel on or near the street. Alternatively, it is possible that the Gibralter Hotel may have been on Pall Mall in London, and the ‘winner’ of the note might have had to catch the train to Manchester to cash in his almighty prize of 2 pence. Alternatively, and most likely, the note is simply nonsense, or was some kind of in-joke that we now lack the context to understand.