Modern Irish Banknotes (1928 to date)
This page contains information and links relating to
banknotes produced by the Currency Commission and
the Central Bank of Ireland.
Other related pages:
Early Irish Banknotes (1700-1928)
coming soon ....
On this page: (click to jump down to these topics)
Introduction
Before the inauguration of the Irish Free State on December,
6th 1922 six banks had the right to issue banknotes in Ireland.
These six banks were named in the Bankers (Ireland) Act of 1845
and were:
- The Bank of Ireland
- The National Bank
- The Northern Banking Company
- The Provincial Bank
- The Ulster Bank
- The Belfast Banking Company
As the newly established Irish Free State was still in the
Sterling area these banks continued to issue notes both in
the North and in the Free State areas as the had done prior
to 1922.
The Belfast Banking Company sold its Free State
business to the Royal Bank of Ireland in 1923.
In 1926 the Minister for Finance set up a banking commission
to prepare a report on the changes necessary in
banking and banknote issuing in the newly formed Irish
Free State.
The result of the report was the establishment of an
independant body called the Currency Commission which was to
manage the newly created Irish Free State pound which was
fixed to the Sterling pound.
The report also initiated the revocation of the right to issue
notes from the five remaining banks from the 1845 Act and
set up the Consolidated Bank Notes which would be issued
to the existing five banks and three additional ones which
were:
- The Hibernian Bank
- The Royal Bank of Ireland
- The Munster & Leinster Bank
The Currency Act 1927 enacted the recommendations from the
banking
commission's report and established the Currency Commission.
The Currency Commission was responsible for the issuing of
the Legal Tender Notes and the production of the
Consolidated Bank Notes. The eight banks which received the
consolidated bank notes lost their right to issue notes of their
own and were required to recall and destroy all existing notes.
As some of these banks had business in the North of Ireland
they had to produce a different issue of notes for the North
following the issue of the consolidated notes as the previous
notes which circulated in the entire island had to be withdrawn.
The Consolodated Banknotes (Ploughman Notes) 1929-1941
The first issue of Consolidated Bank Notes took place on
May, 6 1929.
Six denominations were issued:
£1, £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100.
Eight banks had notes produced and allocated to them for issue:
Select a bank for a short history of the Institution.
coming soon ...
- The Bank of Ireland
- The National Bank
- The Northern Banking Company
- The Provincial Bank
- The Ulster Bank
- The Hibernian Bank
- The Royal Bank of Ireland
- The Munster & Leinster Bank
The designs for the notes for all the banks were
almost identical, differing only in the name of the bank
and the signature. The obverse design of all of the notes
was of a ploughman with a team of two horses hance the
popular nickname of 'ploughman notes' for this series.
The colour of the notes was the same as those chosen
for the legal tender notes, the
reverse design of each denomination was of a view of
Ireland:
Select a denomination for an image of the note
coming soon ....
- One Pound
- Green
- The Customs House, Dublin
- Five Pounds
- Brown
- St Patrick's Bridge, Cork
- Ten Pounds
- Blue
- The Currency Commission Building, Dublin
- Twenty Pounds
- Red
- The Rock of Cashel, Tipperary
- Fifty Pounds
- Mauve
- Croagh Patrick (a mountain), Mayo
- One Hundred Pounds
- Olive
- Killiney Bay, Dublin
In 1934 another banking commission was set up which
recommended the complete withdrawal of the right to
issue notes from all the private banks in the state
and the establishment of a Central Bank which would
be responsible for all subsequent note issue.
The Consolidated Bank Notes continued to be issued
until 1940. In 1954 with most of the notes
already withdrawn from circulation the eight banks
each paid the Central Bank a sum equivalent to their
outstanding notes. The Central Bank of Ireland now
carries the responsibility for redeeming these notes
in exchange for Central Bank Notes.
The ploughman £1 and £5 and £10 notes are not particularly
scarce, they are readily available to collectors from either
banknote dealers or from public auctions.
The notes from the different banks are of varying rarity,
in particular the Northern and Ulster notes are difficult
to find in uncirculated condition. The £5 and £10 notes
from the banks with the smaller issues (Northern, Royal,
Ulster and Hibernian) are scare.
Ploughman notes are very popular with collectors and
notes in crisp Extremely Fine or Uncirculated condition
are highly sought after and scarce.
Only one £20 pound note was reported as outstanding in 1954,
and I believe that it has subsequently turned up in a
collection. It is reportedly a Bank of Ireland issue, which
is not surprising as the Bank of Ireland had the largest
issue of notes.
The higher denominations;
£50 and £100; were only produced for the Bank of Ireland,
the Munster and Leinster Bank, The Royal bank of Ireland
and the Ulster Bank. All of the notes of these
denominations were reported as withdrawn by the banks
in the 1954 returns.
No £50 or £100 notes have turned up subsequently and there
are probably
none left in existence unless they are still held within the
vaults or archives of the relevent banks.
Specimen notes of the ploughman issue are available but
extremely scarce.
The £20, £50 and £100 specimens
command very high prices when they appear on the market
as these denominations are otherwise unavailable.
The Currency Commission Legal Tender Notes
(Lady Lavery Notes) 1928-1942
The first issue of Legal Tender Notes took place on
September, 10 1928.
The Legal Tender Notes were issued in seven denominations:
10s, £1, £5, £10, £20, £50, £100
Watch this space, more to come ....
Sorry !
I have not yet implemented the sections on :
- Central Bank of Ireland,
Legal Tender Notes (Lady Lavery Notes) 1943-1977
- Central Bank of Ireland,
Series II Legal Tender Notes 1976-1993
- Central Bank of Ireland,
the current series (III); 1992 to date
© 1996 - John Stafford-Langan
stafford@vnet.ibm.com
Version 1.01 20-Feb-1996