NS&I: Premium Bonds - older than 1990s

LHW99

My OH has 3 (I think) from 1953. Never won anything though 😕

Enzo_L

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81942224#Comment_81942224

They were first sold on 1st November 1956. 🙂

badger09

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81942314#Comment_81942314

Whoever bought mine in December 1956 was clearly an early adopter. Think it was an ‘auntie’ or rather, an elderly spinster friend of my mum. Definitely wasn’t mum or dad as they didn’t have that sort of money.

twiglet98

I was born in June 1956 and my mother bought me a total of £14 in £1 bonds in the first month that they launched. I won £250 in 1965, aged 9. My mother insisted I reinvest £200 back into premium bonds, give £10 each to my two surviving grandparents and my two siblings, and I was allowed to spend £10 in a department store. I bought a pink button-through dressing gown, to replace my scratchy red hand-me-down woollen one, and a fluffy rug for my bedroom!

In 1975, aged 19, I won £50, and thought that had set a 10-year pattern. No such fortune in 1985 and with a baby on the way, I cashed in the £200 block, leaving the original £14. No wins since then.

In 2023 I bought another £200 in two blocks of £100, no success, and a fortnight ago I decided to cash them in to go towards my heating oil, easy process online, job done, back to the original £14. Or so I thought.

It must have said that the oldest bonds would be cashed in first, but that wasn't the case last time, by post, in 1985. I wasn't given a choice this time to select bonds to cash in, I am now left with the most recent £14 from my 2023 block purchase, and I'm so sad and nostalgic that all my 1959 gifts from my mother are gone :(

eskbanker

It must have said that the oldest bonds would be cashed in first, but that wasn't the case last time, by post, in 1985. I wasn't given a choice this time to select bonds to cash in, I am now left with the most recent £14 from my 2023 block purchase, and I'm so sad and nostalgic that all my 1959 gifts from my mother are gone :(

Yes, the fact that you can only vary from 'oldest first' if doing so by post is explained in the main Ts & Cs document:

If you ask us to cash in online or by phone, we decide which Premium Bonds and Premium Bond numbers to cash in. We normally cash in your oldest Premium Bonds first. You can only ask which Premium Bonds to cash in by post.

https://www.nsandi.com/files/asset/pdf/premium-bonds-brochure.pdf

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81944318#Comment_81944318

It must have said that the oldest bonds would be cashed in first, but that wasn't the case last time, by post, in 1985. I wasn't given a choice this time to select bonds to cash in, I am now left with the most recent £14 from my 2023 block purchase, and I'm so sad and nostalgic that all my 1959 gifts from my mother are gone :(

I can sympathise… my original bonds are also ones I want to keep.

By post you can select which bonds to cash in. The default in the online process is to cash in the oldest, as you've discovered. NS&I do say this.

What they don't highlight enough is the different online form you can access on their website (i.e. no need to log on to your NS&I account) which also allows you to select which bonds/amounts to cash in, and submit that electronically. I've never seen a link to the online form on the NS&I website, but it can be found by doing a search (though obviously make sure it is the genuine NS&I form on their website)

twiglet98

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81944410#Comment_81944410

Thank you so much for explaining. The previous cash-in was by post in the pre-internet days. How frustrating, I'd have liked to keep the 1956 originals but too late now!

truthseeker76

My mother bought me a £1 Premium Bond in 1956, so 70 years ago. This Bond has never won a prize in all that time. I wonder if this is record, but, as my name is Jim, I'm certainly not "Lucky Jim" with my Premium Bond!

silvercar

OH has just won £100 on a total PB holding of £75 bought for him in the 60s. In 1990 he won £500 from the same bonds.

masonic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82021389#Comment_82021389

There's less than a 4% chance of winning anything with a single bond over 840 draws (70 years) with odds of winning ar 23000 to 1, so you can be quite lucky and still unlikely to win. The record for longest time holding a single bond and no prizes will tend to go to the person who has held a single bond for the longest at current life expectancies.