Early Bank of Ireland Contemporary Forgeries

[ThePloughman]

Some of the earlier Bank of Ireland notes seem to be only available as Contemporary Forgeries, like this £1 note from 1821.
Have the genuine examples been cataloged?

bank-of-ireland-1-pound-1821-contemporary-forgery.jpg (24.64 KiB) Viewed 852 times

[Mac]

There is at least one Genuine example of this design that I know of (dated 9 Oct 1819), and a couple of contemporary forgeries which have been 'adjusted' to appear genuine—these are easy enough to spot if you get a good look at them, although they have both been 'graded' and encased by one of the grading companies.

[ThePloughman]

Here's a nice grade 30 Shilling note forgery from 1812, in 2 halves, but still a nice example.

bank-of-ireland-30-shilling-1816-forgery.jpg (37.45 KiB) Viewed 709 times

And an example of a later note with a modified design.

bank-of-ireland-30-shilling-1835-forgery.jpg (32.89 KiB) Viewed 709 times

Even as forgeries they are quite nice examples.

[DOC]

Yes, the early Bank of Ireland forgeries are in many cases faithful to the original design and as such are highly collectable. I attach a scan of a slightly different variant of the 30 Shillings note. The main difference to the 1816 example is in the bottom right hand corner where 1.10.0 replaces thirty.

[DOC]

And now with attachment !

B2-BoI-30-Shillings-Forgery-5th-April-1820.jpg (32.38 KiB) Viewed 602 times

[Mac]

The change to 1.10.0 on the bottom is an interesting little detail.
This is what adds variety for the collector!

[DOC]

Another interesting little detail is the appearance of the denomination in the scrolling border from about 1820. This may have been added as a security feature?

BoI-30-Shillings-Forgery-5th-April-1820-Border.jpg (26.55 KiB) Viewed 573 times

[Mac]

The design of the notes became considerably more advanced with the introduction of this series.
I have noticed that on some of the forgeries the border region is thicker than on genuine notes of the period, perhaps reflecting some difficulty on the part of the forgers in matching the detail.


EDIT: Here are enlargements of the bottom section of two genuine notes, illustrating the addition of the denomination in words:

boi1y1817-bottom.jpg (7.8 KiB) Viewed 573 times

£1 1817

boi1y1821-bottom.jpg (7.18 KiB) Viewed 573 times

£1 1821

[DOC]

Very interesting. It amazes me how quickly the forgers reacted to changes in design even if not managing to completely duplicate the design.

[DOC]

Here are some early Bank of Ireland guinea denominations overprinted as forgeries.

BoI-1-Guinea-24th-Dec.1800-Forgery.jpg (33.22 KiB) Viewed 555 times

BoI-1-&-Half-Guineas-18th-Jan.1804-Forgery.jpg (38.41 KiB) Viewed 555 times