Born in 1988, the year of Rick Astley and Bros – Ernie 3 was starting to develop an image problem by the early 2000s. ‘The kitsch casing meant it had begun to look dated,’ said a spokesman at the time. But it was able to process 330,000 bond numbers an hour, five times faster than its predecessor. Ernie 3 would go on to be the original premium bonds millionaire-maker when the new jackpot prize was introduced in April 1994.

Photograph: NS&I