Errors on Irish Banknotes

General Topics on Irish banknotes • Shows • Auctions • Prices
Post Reply
User avatar
Mac
Taoiseach • Admin
Taoiseach • Admin
Posts: 1916
Joined: 23 Jan 2015 15:05

Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by Mac »

Printing errors are an interesting side effect of banknote production. Some error notes manage to escape into circulation.
Irish error notes are relatively rare, especially older issues. Collecting errors tends to be a niche end of note collecting and Irish error notes tend to be undervalued in terms of their relative rarity. Some error notes can be quite spectacular.

Here are a few Irish error notes.

Bank of Ireland £5 1943 missing print error. The red printing layer is completely missing from both sides of this banknote.
Image
Image
Bank of Ireland Five Pounds 1943 missing print error, with a normally printed note below for comparison.
Image
Image
User avatar
DOC
UNC
UNC
Posts: 1105
Joined: 26 Jan 2015 18:15

Re: Errors on Irish Bankotes

Post by DOC »

Here is a National Bank £10 note from 1942 which may be a similar type of error with the pink print layer completely missing. I attach a 'normal' note for comparison.

Image
Attachments
10-Pounds-1st-Aug-1942-ODonnell-normal.jpg
10-Pounds-1st-Aug-1942-ODonnell-normal.jpg (82.56 KiB) Viewed 13499 times
User avatar
Mac
Taoiseach • Admin
Taoiseach • Admin
Posts: 1916
Joined: 23 Jan 2015 15:05

Re: Errors on Irish Bankotes

Post by Mac »

Wow! There is quite a striking difference.
The serial number on the possible error note is normal, suggesting that the note has not been tampered with.
User avatar
ThePloughman
UNC
UNC
Posts: 276
Joined: 04 Nov 2016 16:37

Re: Errors on Irish Bankotes

Post by ThePloughman »

Looks like the yellow is too strong on the top note, and the pink is just totally faded. Could it be just a badly enhanced scan?
User avatar
Mac
Taoiseach • Admin
Taoiseach • Admin
Posts: 1916
Joined: 23 Jan 2015 15:05

Re: Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by Mac »

Here is one of the more spectacular B Series errors, a £1 note missing one of the layers of print.
Image
User avatar
ThePloughman
UNC
UNC
Posts: 276
Joined: 04 Nov 2016 16:37

Re: Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by ThePloughman »

These missing print errors on the celtic series I like. i have a £1 similar to that, and a twenty with some printing missing from the back. Has a similar error been seen on £5 or £10?
User avatar
Mac
Taoiseach • Admin
Taoiseach • Admin
Posts: 1916
Joined: 23 Jan 2015 15:05

Re: Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by Mac »

I have not yet seen this type of missing print error on £5, £10, or £50 denominations.
There are a fair few £20 notes with partial reverse print missing, and £1 notes with partial face print missing recorded so far.
User avatar
Series B notes
Fine
Fine
Posts: 68
Joined: 13 Sep 2017 19:59

Re: Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by Series B notes »

Can you please post a picture of a 5 pound print error? I can't find a picture of one on the Internet.
User avatar
The Governor
Rúnaí • Moderator
Rúnaí • Moderator
Posts: 44
Joined: 23 Jan 2015 15:07

Re: Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by The Governor »

Here is a Series B £5 print error.
Image
User avatar
Mac
Taoiseach • Admin
Taoiseach • Admin
Posts: 1916
Joined: 23 Jan 2015 15:05

Re: Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by Mac »

One of my favourites is this 1975 £10 note missing date error on a replacement note!

Image
User avatar
Mac
Taoiseach • Admin
Taoiseach • Admin
Posts: 1916
Joined: 23 Jan 2015 15:05

Re: Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by Mac »

Ploughman Error note with missing serial numbers which illustrates that the six digit number is added separately from the printing of the bank title and preefix.

Image
User avatar
callahiljo
VF
VF
Posts: 87
Joined: 28 May 2016 15:15

Re: Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by callahiljo »

I took a close look at that Ploughman £1 when it was in DNW. It is not conclusive, in my view at least, that it was an error as distinct from a note that may have been subsequently "treated". I say this because from reading much of the correspondence between the CC and DLR it is very clear the CC checked every shipment very closely for such errors and returned the offending notes for replacement. Not only had DLR to fail to do their quality control but also the CC had to miss an obvious one. The CC struck me as particularly exacting in examining all incoming notes.
User avatar
Mac
Taoiseach • Admin
Taoiseach • Admin
Posts: 1916
Joined: 23 Jan 2015 15:05

Re: Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by Mac »

callahiljo wrote: 01 Oct 2021 15:49 I took a close look at that Ploughman £1 when it was in DNW. It is not conclusive, in my view at least, that it was an error as distinct from a note that may have been subsequently "treated". I say this because from reading much of the correspondence between the CC and DLR it is very clear the CC checked every shipment very closely for such errors and returned the offending notes for replacement. Not only had DLR to fail to do their quality control but also the CC had to miss an obvious one. The CC struck me as particularly exacting in examining all incoming notes.
What kind of "treatment" do you suggest as possible on this, I wonder.

A complete removal of serial numbers or any other printed feature from the surface of a banknote would likely leave some physical residual evidence of that removal, such printing is designed to not be removable.

Under what conditions did you examine the note?
We had a close look at this note when it first appeared, (in 2003, I think) as it was a consideration that the serial numbers might have been erased. I had the opportunity to take a 2400dpi scan of it for a closer look.

We found no trace whatosever of the red ink of the serial numbers on this note, and no damage whatsoever on any other of the inked features of the note.

Among other features, the sizing on this note is uniformly intact across all of its surface. Any surface abrasion would very likely have damaged this feature to a detectable extent, as has been observed on other banknotes which have had areas cleaned of abraised.

We found no evidence to suggest that this Ploughman note had been tampered with, and concluded that it was a genuine error with serial numbers missing.

The imprint of the number is discernable in part on the note.

It is somewhat unlikely that the Currency Commission (CC) would have examined every individual One Pound note prior to it entering circulation, given the quantity of notes involved.

Partial or total missing serial number errors are not the scarcest error types for Irish notes.
User avatar
Mac
Taoiseach • Admin
Taoiseach • Admin
Posts: 1916
Joined: 23 Jan 2015 15:05

Re: Errors on Irish Banknotes

Post by Mac »

Here is a much more minor error on a Ploughman note, with the printing of the date, bank title, prefix and serial numbers shifted slightly upwards.
Also, a more major similar error on a Lavery 10 Shilling note.
.
Image
.
Image
Post Reply