Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

1919. The short-lived General Strike in Limerick which produced an interesting banknote issue.
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Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

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The Limerick Soviet
The 'Limerick Soviet' is a term given to a general strike in Limerick city from 15 to 27 April 1919, organised by the Limerick Trades and Labour Council, as a protest against the British army's declaration of a "Special Military Area" under the Defence of the Realm Act, which covered most of Limerick city and a part of the county. The soviet ran the city for the period, printed its own money and newspaper and organised the supply of food.
(part taken from wikipedia)

An article on the event is available here.

A book on the Limerick Soviet exists, "Forgotten Revolution - The Limerick Soviet 1919" by Liam Cahill.

Limerick Soviet Notes are among the rarest of Irish Notes.
There are three denominations.


I believe the banknotes were first noted in numismatic circles around 1969.
Members are invited to post in this thread pictures of notes they have seen or recorded.

Limerick Soviet One shilling note
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Limerick Soviet Five shilling note
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Limerick Soviet Ten shilling note
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EDIT: Added images.
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by DOC »

Here is a 10 shilling note with a different signature variation.

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Limerick Soviet Note. No sig

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Here's a Limerick Soviet note with no signatures.

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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by Mac »

I've been doing a lot of work on these lately. There should be some interesting results soon.
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

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New content added to the Limerick Soviet section on the main website.
I'll be adding lots more pictures also, during the site upgrade process.
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by Mac »

The Limerick Soviet Note Census (LSNC) is progressing nicely, with a good range of the notes now recorded.

The census will be the subject of an article in Coin News within the next few months.
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

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Here is a variation of the Limerick Soviet notes—some of the later notes were printed on grey-bluish paper rather than the off-white of most notes.

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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

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Three more Limerick Soviet notes have been recorded recently, two 10s notes and one 5s note, all in the National Museum of Ireland.
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by ThePloughman »

So what’s the count on these in the survey now?
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by Mac »

38 notes have been recorded so far.
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by Jenny007 »

Have any shown up outside Ireland ? Hoping I stumble across one States side, but no luck yet !!
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by Mac »

10 Shillings Number 261 (pictured at the top post), and the note above which doesn't have a number both turned up in the US.
261 tourned up in a collectibles shop in San Francisco around 10 years a go, with a provenance indicating it was a
souvenir kept by the then (1919) American Consul General to Ireland, C. M. Hataway Jr, so there is hope of a nice find over there :)

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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by Mac »

Another 1 Shilling note added to the census, number 38. It looks to be in nice condition.
Thanks to Doc for spotting this one.

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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by Mac »

LSNC total of recorded notes now stands at 40 notes

The relative proportion of newly recorded notes in museums is increasing as more notes turn up. It will be interesting to see what 2019, the centenary year of the Limerick Soviet, will turn up in terms of newly recorded notes.
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by DOC »

The pool of notes available to collectors is limited when you consider that a number are located in museums. It would be a tough task to obtain all three denominations. Hopefully new examples and information will surface for the 100th Anniversary :)
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

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At the last count, 15 of the recorded notes are known to be in museums.
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

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LSNC total of recorded notes now stands at 41 notes

I just spotted a decent 1/- note yesterday. It fits into the current categorisation as C1: correct signatures; stamped; not numbered.
The stamp is very faint, but there in the bottom left area of the note.
A dealer has this one for sale, overpriced of course. It is slightly damaged on the face where some ink is missing, a few pin holes possibly, but altogether a pleasing example at nice VF.

Limerick-soviet-One-Shilling-Note-1919.jpg
Limerick-soviet-One-Shilling-Note-1919.jpg (41.08 KiB) Viewed 18709 times
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by DOC »

Hi Mac, A nice example. I spotted this one recently and wondered if it was already included in your census. Is there another example of the 1/- note without number?
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by Mac »

DOC wrote: 22 Apr 2020 18:41Is there another example of the 1/- note without number?
Yes, one other. It was in Mealy's in April 2016.
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Re: Survey of Limerick Soviet Notes • How many are out there?

Post by DOC »

Thanks, I found the scan in your posting titled Limerick Soviet No.1 Notes :)
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