Shoppers are being urged to check their new £10 notes for serial numbers that could earn them thousands of pounds.

The new notes are released on Thursday and estimates have been made as to which serial numbers collectors will be desperate to obtain.

The Bank of England are hosting an auction on October 6, where there will be the opportunity to bid for a series of the special notes. The codes that will be available to bid for will be announced on Friday.

They refused to comment on the prices that they are expecting to receive, but did point out that a similar auction for the new £5 notes proved very popular last year.

A spokesman said: In total we received £194,500 from the auction last year, including a bid of £8,500 for a single £5 note.

Every note is unique. Last year we sold 332 of the notes and the proceeds went to three different charities.

The £5 note with the lowest serial number available to the public AA01000017 was sold at the auction for £4,105 and the new £10 notes are estimated to also reach four-figures.

Changechecker.com have claimed that the serial numbers that they expect to fetch the highest prices are the birthday of Jane Austen – whose portrait will feature on the note – 16 121775, and the date of her death, 18 071817. Also, the code 17 751817 equates to Austen’s birth and death combined.

Other high-pricing codes are expected to be significant dates in the Pride and Prejudice author’s life, including the dates of when her books were released. Pride and Prejudice, for example, will be 28 011813. While serial numbers beginning AA01 will also be highly sought after – as these will have been among the first printed.

The first million £10 notes will contain a prefix of AA01 and could all be worth £50 according to Simon Narbeth, of specialist paper money dealers, Simon Narbeth.Codes such as 007, James Bond’s agent number and notes that contain consecutive numbers are also estimated to attract high bids. While one £5 note with a prefix of AK47, the weapon, sold for £2,250 on eBay last year. Other notes have also sold for thousands on eBay, which has proved to be a hotbed for those looking to sell their rare notes.

But the first note to be printed will not be circulated as it will be given to the Queen. Similarly, the second will be given to Prince Philip, the third to the Prime Minister and the fourth to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The polymer notes are being launched in accordance with the 200th anniversary of Austen’s death, making her the only other woman along with the Queen to appear on an English bank note after Winston Churchill replaced Elizabeth Fry on the new £5 note last year.

Current £10 notes will be slowly phased out of circulation until Spring of 2018, with the new £20 note set to be rolled out in 2020.