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Attached is a scan of a proof £50 note dated 25 July 1871, not listed in PMI 2nd edition having only recently appeared in a US auction. 72 branches are listed in 5 lines.

Also attached for comparison is a proof £100 of the same series, dated 28 Jan 1870, this one with 54 branches in 4 lines, showing just how quickly the bank was opening new branches across Ireland in 1870-71.

The £50 note, unlike others of this series, has the shamrock pattern border on all four sides, whereas the other denominations had machinework borders down the left and right hand sides.

The only firm evidence that either denomination was issued by the National Bank before 1870 is in the form of two undated specimens held in the archives of the RBS with blank spaces for the issuing branch's name to be added by hand.

Nice to see a new date emerge for the National Bank £50 notes. It is interesting that this is the only denomination where the shamrock border was retained on all four sides after the 1840’s. The latest known date for a National Bank £50, 25th November 1920, also has the shamrock border on all four sides.

That's very interesting about the shamrock border being on all four sides on the £50 note only.

Here is further evidence indicating that higher denomination notes were issued by the National Bank prior to 1870. The attached article from the Cork Examiner refers to a lost £100 note, issued by The National Bank, Cork branch, dated 1856.

It is very useful to have hard evidence like this of the actual circulation of the higher denomination notes, as the surviving examples we have access to are only in proof form.

Mac wrote: ↑31 Dec 2023 23:05 It is very useful to have hard evidence like this of the actual circulation of the higher denomination notes, as the surviving examples we have access to are only in proof form.

It is unusual to get this level of information about a lost banknote. Here is a notice relating to a £50 National Bank note, Loughrea Branch, date not specified but most likely 1855 or earlier. There is sufficient information here to confirm that this is a National Bank note and interestingly an earlier type with the title ‘National Bank of Ireland’ as it was issued prior to 1856.

The cancelled note records of the National Bank, held in the RBS archive, show a steady trickle of £50 notes being sent in, without any details other than the amounts.