A painter and decorator was stunned when he received a new £5 note and found the serial number matched his home PHONE NUMBER – beating odds of a trillion-to-one.
Lee Sharman, 39, was at his local pub with pals when he was showing off the new polymer note he’d recently received in change.
When he examined the note more closely he was stunned to find the last six digits – 284163 – matched his own home phone number.
Lee’s friends worked out the estimated odds of a person finding their own landline number on a fiver was an astonishing 1,200,000,000,000/1.
Lee said: “I got the fiver in change from my local Wetherspoon’s pub.
“I have about four new fivers so far and I’m going to collect all the ones I get because apparently they could be valuable in the future depending on the serial numbers.
“I was in the pub with my mates on Sunday when I pulled the fiver out to show them and I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“I said ‘Here look at this, I can’t believe that is my phone number’.
“I was in shock. I found it bizarre that it could happen.
“It is only because they are new – that is the reason I was looking at them.
“My mate worked out the odds by multiplying the amount of people by the amount of landlines in the country and then by a million and it came to 1,200,000,000,000/1.
“I called the bookies and asked if I could put a bet on it but they said they wouldn’t be able to puts odds on it.
“I told them I actually did have a fiver with my phone number on and they said the odds would be astronomical.
“I am gutted I can’t put a bet on it.”
Lee, who has a seven-year-old son Jjak, added: “I will definitely be saving that one.
“I am going to put it in a frame with my business card.”
A spokesperson from bookmakers William Hill said: “This is amazing, it makes the
“Leicester Premier League victory look like a sure thing. The odds are so high there are not enough 0’s available.”
