Only one Jane Austen £5 note - thought to be worth up to £50,000 – is still circulating in the UK. The third of four limited-edition fivers has been found in Northern Ireland.

The latest lucky person joins previous winners from Wales and Scotland – making England the only UK nation not to have uncovered a prize note yet.

Artist Graham Short engraved four of the new £5 notes with a 5mm Jane Austen portrait and quote. He then spent one in each country of the UK.

People throughout England will be hoping this means the remaining 'golden ticket' is in a cash register near them - but the notes could easily have crossed borders in the wallets of unwitting travellers.

The fivers are estimated to have a value of between £40,000 and £50,000. Short made the tiny engravings next to the illustration of Big Ben on the note.

Short said: "I'm always looking to do something different and as soon as I saw the new £5 note I thought 'wouldn't it be good if I could engrave something on it?'

"I didn't know what but then I found out it was going to be the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death and her image is also going on the new £10 note, so it ties in nicely with that."

The lucky banknotes have the following serial numbers and quotes from the writer's novels engraved on them (the remaining one is AM32 885554):

  • AM32 885551: "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more," from Emma
  • AM32 885552: "To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love," from Pride and Prejudice
  • AM32 885553: "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of," from Mansfield Park
  • AM32 885554: "I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good," from Pride and Prejudice

The Scottish and Welsh winners made their discoveries in the run-up to Christmas 2016, while the lucky Northern Ireland resident spotted the engraving in a café last week. All of the winners have so far chosen to remain anonymous.

Waterproof money
The engraving of Jane Austen is found near the illustration of Big Ben and is almost invisible to the naked eye Stefan Wermuth/ Reuters