These £5 notes have a hidden easter egg worth £20,000

Check your pockets.
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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The new £5 notes are again making headlines. This time it's about four special notes, engraved with a tiny portrait of Jane Austen, which could be worth more than £20,000 ($25,160).

The notes features 5mm art by specialist micro-engraver Graham Short, who had the idea to mark the 200th anniversary of Austen's death next year.

The first note was spent in Kelso in the Scottish borders. The remaining three will be spent in England Wales and Northern Ireland this week.

The four notes have the serial numbers AM32 885551, AM32 885552, AM32 885553 and AM32 885554.

The project has been launched by the Tony Huggins-Hiag Gallery in Kelso.

"All of Graham's work has an insurance valuation of about £50,000 at the moment. It's a reasonable estimate," Huggins-Hiag told the BBC.

The gallery said it would provide advice to the lucky owner on how to put it up for auction, where the value could increase up to £20,000.

It is illegal to deface banknotes under the law, according to Bank of England.

But the gallery said in a statement that the Bank of England informed them that the notes were still legal tender.

The plastic polymer £5 note caused tumult in vegetarian and vegan communities over the revelation that it contains animal fat in the form of tallow.  

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