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Finlay's Bank, Dublin • 1754–1829

Posted: 26 Feb 2015 16:10
by Mac
A visitor to the Dublin Coin Fair in February asked me about Finlay's bank.

A bit of research suggests that there were three different registrations of Finlay's bank in Dublin, with changes in the partners.

1754-1778
1778-1816
1816-1829

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Finlay's Bank 20 Pounds


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Finlay's Bank 5 Guineas

Re: Finlay's Bank, Dublin • 1754–1829

Posted: 01 Dec 2018 10:18
by DOC
Finlay’s Bank is reputed to have been a significant issuer of banknotes over its long history but today its notes are scarce, particularly in issued form. The reason for this may be due to the orderly wind down of its operation in 1829 with full payment of issued notes outstanding. The two examples posted previously appear to be issued notes which have been cancelled. The 1798 example has the signature area removed while the £20 note is unusual in having several details crossed out.

Re: Finlay's Bank, Dublin • 1754–1829

Posted: 08 Dec 2018 13:01
by DOC
Here is a £10 unissued note from this bank with Thomas Finlay as lead partner. An interesting feature is the counterfoil on the left, a useful feature for recording details when notes were issued. It reminds me of the counterfoil on modern day cheque books.

Re: Finlay's Bank, Dublin • 1754–1829

Posted: 08 Dec 2018 23:50
by Mac
You don't often see them with the counterfoil.
Where it was cut off seems to be a bit random. The £20 above has all of the left side design intact, whilst the 5 guinea has had most of that design feature cut away.

Re: Finlay's Bank, Dublin • 1754–1829

Posted: 14 Dec 2018 01:31
by ThePloughman
DOC wrote: 01 Dec 2018 10:18 the orderly wind down of its operation in 1829 with full payment of issued notes outstanding.
An orderly wind down of operations was surely unusual for a private bank of that era!

Re: Finlay's Bank, Dublin • 1754–1829

Posted: 15 Dec 2018 14:46
by DOC
Yes, chaotic bankruptcy was more the norm for the early Private Banks in Ireland !

Re: Finlay's Bank, Dublin • 1754–1829

Posted: 08 Mar 2020 10:16
by DOC
Here is a 5 Guineas note from Thomas Finlay & Co. The design is similar to the 1798 example issued by John Finlay & Co. (illustrated in an earlier posting) but the partners’ initials in the monogram have been changed. An interesting feature is that the initials are those of the previous partnership with G for John Geale, still included.

The partners are those registered for 1825-1828 while the promise to pay is in Irish Currency. This suggests that the note was printed in 1825 as notes with references to Irish Currency were phased out in early 1826. The serial numbers on the note do not match and the date is partially filled out as, 12th July 185_. M&R Law has been added to the signature area. A likely explanation for this is that the note was retained by the partners as a ‘souvenir’ given that it would have become obsolete soon after it was printed.