Premium Bond Winner ?

I had just less than £10k in bonds in 1996 - I have not bought any since but with auto reinvestment my holding is now £18k. I have had about three £100 wins, one £500 win and one £1k win, The remainder (over £6k) has been made up of £50 and £25 wins.

I have a theory that "won bonds" MIGHT , have more chance, than "bought ones", of winning in the first month, this is POSSIBLY because they are in a sequence of bonds where most aren't eligible (bought ones aren't in the draw for over one clear month). My theory is based on; three or four times I have won with bonds won the previous month - which seems way above laws of probability. i.e. a £50 block winning £50 or £25 within one month.

I'd be interested to hear if others have won with bonds won the month before.

Hello Trademark

I realise that you do not want to set hares running with a discussion on this point but I may help you to avoid a lot of number crunching.

I had significant experience of the Premium Bond system in a former life and can reassure you that every Premium Bond number (or more accurately speaking each £1 unit) stands an equal chance in every prize draw for which it is eligible, regardless of the value of the bond or the date when it was purchased.

The number of extant bonds has multiplied by an astonishing percentage over the last 25+ years, as at the same time, the stock of earlier eligible bonds (those bought in, say, the 1950s - 1980s) has diminished as people have died or had their holdings repaid. As a result, the incidence of older bonds winning prizes becomes an increasingly rare phenomenon purely because, statistically, they form an ever declining percentage of the eligible stock of bonds for any prize draw. Indeed, there would be something untoward, given the purchasing profile over the last 58+ years, if it older bonds were to form anything other than a declining percentage of winning numbers.

Finally, just as a point of interest, the prize draw is run independent of actual bonds (or Bond Serial Numbers for the sake of accuracy) in circulation. In brief, no numbers are entered into the draw so none can be left out. The system is unaware of the date of sale of any bond at the time of the draw.

I hope this is helpful.