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Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 20:47
by DOC
The Provincial Bank of Ireland issued an attractive series of blue multi-branch notes from 1903-1919. Blue notes are known for the £1, £3, £5, £10 and £20 denominations. No issued examples of the £50 and £100 notes are known but these may have been black and white in colour.

Notes of this series are scarce with issued non-cancelled, cut-cancelled and proof notes available to collectors. Examples of each type are attached for the £1 notes. In general, notes of this series appear to have been signed by branch managers although other officials in the bank branches sometimes signed them.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 22:35
by DOC
Provincial Bank £3 Blue notes are very rare even in cut cancelled form. One of the few known examples is attached.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 16 Mar 2018 15:33
by Mac
The blue £3 and £20 notes are both very rare, likely with low printages.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 21 Mar 2018 19:35
by DOC
Yes, the £3 and £20 denominations are very rare. I have only seen one example of a £20, a nice issued non-cancelled note with signature W.H.Baker. If anyone knows of any other examples even in cut-cancelled or proof form, it would be interesting to hear about their details.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 23 Mar 2018 17:51
by Mac
The Provincial Bank appears to have been a bit uncertain as to how to approach prefixing on the blue notes. When the £1 notes were introduced they started out with prefix A/5, illustrated, continuing from the earlier all-black series. Then the serial numbers were reset to start again at 1, and continuing with single letter prefixes starting at A.
Notes without prefix, and letters A to G all appeared on banknotes dated 2 November 1903. Thereafter most dates used one prefix only, which was how the bank's £1 notes had previously been issued.

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Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 26 Mar 2018 20:09
by DOC
Interesting observation. It seems that The Provincial Bank considered the blue notes to be just a continuation of the black and white series. The £5 notes started with prefix F which was a continuation from the last black and white notes. However, there appears to have been a change of mind with the adoption of a new sequence in 1904. Examples attached.

I wonder what prompted the change of mind? One possibility is that a colour change was regarded as significant by users of the notes and the bank reacted to this.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 01 Apr 2018 00:01
by ThePloughman
I guess they might have decided to restart numbers on all the denominations once they did so on the £1 notes. It kinda fits datewise.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 07 Apr 2018 10:25
by DOC
The blue £10 denomination is seldom offered. Black & white proofs and issued non-cancelled notes are known. Examples attached. An example issued in 1919 has also been recorded.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 01 May 2022 11:35
by DOC
Prior to 1922, Provincial Bank of Ireland notes were hand signed, usually by branch managers. Here is an interesting example where the bank manager, Samuel F. Anderson has signed notes from different series in slightly different format. The large size 1914 £1 is signed as ‘Samuel F. Anderson’ while the smaller 1921 £1 note is signed as ‘S.F. Anderson’. He was manager of the Kilkeel branch when these notes were signed.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 11 May 2022 19:49
by Mac
A nice pair of notes to see. He may have been signing more notes in 1921, and had to be faster at it!

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 06 Aug 2022 11:00
by DOC
Here is an unusual example of a blue coloured Provincial Bank of Ireland £1 specimen note. Specimen notes from this era are generally observed in black and white format.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 06 Aug 2022 13:15
by Mac
It also shows the watermark very well, something you can only really see clearly on a high grade note!

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 16 Oct 2022 11:42
by DOC
Here is an enigmatic Provincial Bank of Ireland £50 specimen which recently appeared at auction. It suggests that the higher denomination £50 and £100 notes of the 10th Issue were also blue in colour with tan underprint, similar to the lower denominations. The lack of branches and the 25th November 1920 date, suggests that this design was under consideration for issue in the 1920’s.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 18 Oct 2022 15:37
by Mac
This is a very interesting note to see turning up.
It was in a recent Spink auction along with a few late date multibranch cancelled Provincial notes, including a 1906 £3 note.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 29 Oct 2022 23:11
by DOC
Yes, there were some very interesting specimens in that auction. The 1919 £20 Provincial Bank specimen is most likely the last date printed by the bank for multi-branch notes of this denomination and suggests that this ‘Specimen’ with serial numbers was retained for archival purposes.

Re: Provincial Bank of Ireland Blue Notes 1903-1919

Posted: 02 Nov 2022 17:07
by Mac
The 1906 £3 note was a date previously recorded (3 Sept 1906), but the date on the £20 note above was previously unknown.