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

Banknotes issued by Irish Private Banks ca1700–ca1833
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Re: Bank of Limerick. Maunsell, George & Co. 1815-1820

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Thomas Maunsell originally founded the Bank of Limerick in 1789 with partners Robert Maunsell, Sir Matthew Blakiston, Thomas Brooke and Richard Maunsell. It is believed to be the first bank founded in Limerick. The bank went through a number of partnership changes ultimately becoming George Maunsell & Co.
The note attached is an unusual high denomination 20 guinea note from the first partnership and printed between 1789 and 1794. The apparent date on the note 17th May 1829 is difficult to explain as the final partnership went into liquidation in 1820. Perhaps the date is intended to be 1819 or even 1809?
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Bank of Limerick Thomas Maunsell & Co. 20 Guineas 19th May 1829.jpg
Bank of Limerick Thomas Maunsell & Co. 20 Guineas 19th May 1829.jpg (108.6 KiB) Viewed 10434 times
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Re: Bank of Limerick. Maunsell, George & Co. 1815-1820

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That is an interesting note.
20 Guineas was a nice high denomination for the time. Don’t see too many of those around.

The date certainly looks like 1829. It might be a badly written 1819, the style of the numeral 2 written on top in the denomination is different, thought it may have been written by another person.
The 8 of 18 in the date year is written on top of a 7, demonstrating the low issue of the denomination and suggesting that the note dates from the first printage of the notes in the 1700s.
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Re: Bank of Limerick. Maunsell, George & Co. 1815-1820

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30 Shillings.
Bank-of-Limerick-Maunsell-30-shilings-1815-1820x.jpg
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Re: Bank of Limerick. Maunsell, George & Co. 1815-1820

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Interesting to see another variation of this design for the 30 Shillings notes with a shaded panel top left for the serial number. This type appears to precede the one without shaded panel. The attached example was issued in 1816.
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Bank of Limerick Maunsell 30 Shillings 10 Dec. 1816.jpg
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Re: Bank of Limerick. Maunsell, George & Co. 1815-1820

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DOC wrote: 25 Aug 2018 21:58The note attached is an unusual high denomination 20 guinea note from the first partnership and printed between 1789 and 1794. The apparent date on the note 17th May 1829.
This must be the only 20 Guinea out there. It is a very high denomination for a Guinea note.
Date definitely looks to be 1829 to me.
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Re: Bank of Limerick. Maunsell, George & Co. 1815-1820

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Yes, the 20 Guineas denomination is rare and the only one I have seen to date for the Irish Private Banks. That date really does look like 1829 but looking at it in more detail it appears to have been altered (date magnified in attached photo). The lighter ink suggests that the original year on the note is 1810. The zero is almost separate from the downward stroke of the ‘9’. It is difficult to explain why anyone would change the year but maybe it was attempt to obtain payment on the note long after dissolution of the bank?
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Bank of Limerick Maunsell 20 Guineas Date.jpg
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Re: Bank of Limerick. Maunsell, George & Co. 1815-1820

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DOC wrote: 01 Jun 2019 11:23The lighter ink suggests that the original year on the note is 1810.
Very interesting. It might possibly make the note a slight forgery!
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Re: Bank of Limerick. Maunsell, George & Co. 1815-1820

Post by DOC »

An interesting thought. But still a note I would like to have in my collection :)
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Re: Maunsell, George & Co. Bank of Limerick. 1815-1820

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This interesting issued example of a Limerick Bank 3 Guineas note appeared recently at a UK auction house as part of a lot including two Ploughman £1 notes. The lot sold for £1500 hammer price considerably exceeding the auction estimate of £40-60 !
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Limerick Bank George Maunsell & Co. 3 Guineas 6th December 1817.jpg
Limerick Bank George Maunsell & Co. 3 Guineas 6th December 1817.jpg (126.39 KiB) Viewed 1780 times
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Re: Maunsell, George & Co. Bank of Limerick. 1815-1820

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That's quite a decent example. I have not often seen 3 Guinea notes for Maunsell's.
A decent price for the three notes.
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Re: Maunsell, George & Co. Bank of Limerick. 1815-1820

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I have observed prominent Limerick and Cork watermarks on Jersey notes from the late 1800’s and proposed that the paper was most likely associated with Thomas Roche & Co. of Limerick and Stephen Roche & Co. Cork. I was lucky to get an actual example of one of these Jersey notes and examine the watermark more carefully.

The attached unissued £1 note from the Bible Christian Church dates from the 1870’s. The watermark indicates that the paper used was associated with Maunsell’s Limerick Bank rather than Roche’s Limerick Bank. The watermark features the partners names arranged in linear fashion as shown below.


MAUNSELL, KENNEDY
& MAUNSELL

LIMERICK
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Bible Christian Church Jersey 1 Pound Unissued Jersey ca. 1872-1884 with Maunsell Limerick Watermark.jpg
Bible Christian Church Jersey 1 Pound Unissued Jersey ca. 1872-1884 with Maunsell Limerick Watermark.jpg (147.15 KiB) Viewed 1287 times
Bible Christian Church Jersey 1 Pound Unissued ca.1872-1884 Reverse with Maunsell Limerick Watermark.jpg
Bible Christian Church Jersey 1 Pound Unissued ca.1872-1884 Reverse with Maunsell Limerick Watermark.jpg (154.31 KiB) Viewed 1287 times
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Re: Maunsell, George & Co. Bank of Limerick. 1815-1820

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Nicely spotted.
This reuse of watermarked paper from Maunsell's is quite interesting. The Bible Christian Society may have had a tight budget for their note issue.
Also interesting is that the Maunsell's paper was retained by the manufacturers so long after the demise of the bank.
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