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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 
197, Lot: 217. Estimate $200.
Sold for $180. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Fort Montague Bank. Five Halfpence. Issued 1823 in the name of “E. Hill, Governor”. Issue no. 572. Uniface. View of “Fort Montague” (also known as “The House in the Rock”) in wreath to left. Overall dimensions: 18.5cm x 9.9cm. Near VF condition, some minor creases and water marks. Small hole at issue number. Rare.



This strange specimen is not actually a bank note, nor was there ever a Fort Montague Bank.

In 1770 Thomas Hill began the herculean task of carving a home from a limestone rock cliff along the River Nidd in Knaresborough, England. Over time his unusual dwelling came to resemble a fort and was christened “Fort Montague”.

The home became a tourist attraction almost immediately and Hill’s son, also named Thomas and equally eccentric as his father, knighted himself and began printing "bank notes" for visitors. While the family seemingly issued these in good humor, others apparently used them to try to deceive, as evidenced by the notice of the Mayor’s Chamber in Newcastle on October 28, 1816:

Caution - There are a set of swindlers in the Fair attempting to put off as, and for, Five pound notes, certain fictitious notes purporting to issue from the Montague Bank, for the payment of Five Half-pence!” (Journal of the Institute of Bankers, vol. XXXI, 1910, p. 117)

Authorities eventually caught up with the Hill family and put an end to their production.