Bank of Limerick. Maunsell, George & Co. 1815-1820

[ThePloughman]

George Maunsell, John Kennedy, Robert Hedges Maunsell

This bank produced a range of denominations. One of my favourite note designs. The notes are relatively common, and a lot of unissued remainder notes are around. Here’s one for starters. The 1 guinea & half is an interesting small note denomination.

Maunsell-Bank-of-Limerick-1-guinea-and-half-1815-1820s.jpg (35.4 KiB) Viewed 410 times

[DOC]

The Maunsell Bank of Limerick notes are interesting as they are an early example of printing on both sides of the note. I attach the reverse of an 1819 25 Shillings note.

[ThePloughman]

Bank of Limerick £3, £10 unissued notes and a 25 Shilling note dated sometime in October 1819, can't make out the day.

[ThePloughman]

An issued 30 Shilling note from 1816, and a £5 note with the reverse design showing thru.




This bank issued a good range of denomoinations, with a good solid design and printed on the reverse too.

[ThePloughman]

An issued Bank of Limerick 3 Pounder. 14 Dec 1819.

[DOC]

I have seen two varieties of Maunsell notes, one with opening hours, the other without. The opening hours in those days were from 10 till two with Friday as a Bank Holiday . I attach an example of a 1 & Half Guinea note dated 24th August 1816 with opening hours.

[Mac]

I never noticed that on the notes!
Very helpful for the customers.

[DOC]

This Bank also issued £1 notes. Here is an early example dated 14th Dec.1815 with opening hours. The grade is low but it is the only example of this type that I have seen.

[DOC]

Here is a £1 note of the more commonly seen type without opening hours, dated 18th September 1819.

[DOC]

Interesting to see that Paper Money of Ireland describes two types for the Bank of Limerick, Maunsell notes but in a different way. The authors have identified a type with the following promissory statement: 'Promise to Pay the Bearer on Demand in Bank of Ireland Paper'. This type corresponds with the type having opening hours.

The second type without opening hours has a different promissory statement as follows 'Promise to Pay to J.Cash or Bearer on Demand'.

The two types for the 1 Guinea notes are attached.

[Mac]

Interesting indeed! I would guess that the second Type copies the Bank of Ireland notes of the era to promice to pay a named person or bearer on demand, whilst at the same time weakening the 'promice' by removing the obligation to pay in 'Bank of Ireland paper'.

[DOC]

Here is an early type 25 Shillings note from this bank with promise to pay in 'Bank of Ireland Paper'.

[DOC]

Here is an issued 30 Shillings note of the later type, no opening hours and payable to J.Cash.

[DOC]

Here is a scarce 3 Guineas denomination from this bank, dated 29th November 1817.

[Mac]

This is a nice example.
I suppose these Guinea denominations were very common in their day.

[DOC]

Interesting point about the number of higher denomination guinea notes issued by this bank. The serial numbers on the notes suggest that this bank was not a prolific issuer. From observation the higher denominations appear to be rare particularly in issued form.

[DOC]

Here is a 4 Guinea note from this bank which I just noticed is a third type. This type has opening hours but not the promise to pay in Bank of Ireland Paper (Type B). It seems that the higher denomination notes never included a promise to pay in Bank of Ireland Paper. The 3 types identified to date can be summarised as follows:

Type A: Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand in Bank of Ireland Paper with opening hours listed.
Type B: Promise to pay to J. Cash or Bearer on Demand with opening hours listed.
Type C: Promise to pay to J. Cash or Bearer on Demand without listing of opening hours.

[ThePloughman]

It seems there's a lot still to be discovered about the private bank notes. The subjext needs a good book dedicated just to these banks.

[DOC]

Yes, I think we are learning more about the Private Bank note issues as better quality scans become available. Paper Money of Ireland (Blake & Callaway) is an excellent reference and the most comprehensive to date for the Private Banks of Ireland. Perhaps one day we will see a 2nd Edition

[DOC]

Here is an example of an earlier type £5 with opening hours and promise to pay to J.Cash or Bearer on Demand (Type B)