First Trust Bank to cease issuing

[Vellakare]

They were never the most enthusiastic of issuers in the first place, though their notes remained the most 'Irish' in generic appearance at the end.

First Trust Banknote announcement

[Mac]

That's quite a big step, terminating the note issue after (counts fingers for a moment) 198 years!

I wonder if it is connected to Brexit and/or AIB's bailout.

Watch out for those final dates of issue people, they may sneak in a short printage last date and maybe a replacement too.

[DOC]

Sad to see the end of a long tradition of banknote issue going right back to The Provincial Bank in the early 19th Century. I wonder if the pressure to introduce polymer notes was an additional factor leading to this decision?

[Vellakare]

I'd definitely suspect it was down to the cost and pressure to introduce Polymers. Like I said - they were not the most enthusiastic issuing authority, being amongst the first to discontinue issuing 1 and 5 Pound notes.

[DOC]

DNW recently held a Charity Sale of items from the AIB Archive. There were lots of interesting banknote related items including uncut sheets, test prints, proofs, specimens and issued notes.

The 1993 £50 First Trust Bank proof attached is a date previously unknown for this note type. The £100 First Trust Test Print is from a printer’s proof booklet. These items give some insights into the design and production process employed for these banknotes.

[Mac]

These production proofs do give a very interesting insight into the manufacturing process of the banknotes.
I would guess that putting non-standard issue dates on proof notes is possibly a security measure.