Talk about inflation.

A century-old $5 bill recently sold in Toronto for $150,000 -- at triple the pre-sale estimate.

It set a world record for a Canadian chartered banknote, said Bret Evans, managing editor of St. Catharines-based Canadian Coin News.

The unique fiver from the long-defunct, short-lived Bank of Vancouver was hammered down at a public auction held in conjunction with the Torex coin show in late June.

In any condition and with any serial number, the 1910-dated bill would be rare.

But the one bought by an undisclosed Vancouver buyer was the first off a British American Bank Note Company press in Ottawa, provable by the serial number: 000001.

"That note reflects the strength of the market for specialty items," Evans said in an interview Saturday.

"Items like this are world-class," he said, adding among currency collectors, Canada's chartered banknotes have risen in popularity in recent decades. "There's a strong demand for unique paper." Evans said the buyer is not a collector of banknotes, but the bill is connected to the city where he lives and has special artistic appeal.

The front has an intricate engraving showing several steamships at docks on Vancouver's waterfront.

ian.robertson@sunmedia.ca