New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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ThePloughman
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

Post by ThePloughman »

Zany prefixes, from MM to Y2K. And N for the replacement, the usual letter was Z, I think.
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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MM and Y2K are the only known prefixes for the standard issue notes. Yes, Z would be the more usual prefix for a replacement note but in this case N was used. I guess they wanted to do something different for such a radically different design.
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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Interesting errors are not often seen for polymer notes as there are several production controls in the printing process. Here is an unusual example of a cutting error on a £10 Bank of Ireland polymer note. This is the first example of this type of error that I have seen.
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Bank of Ireland 10 Pounds Polymer Error 31st May 2017 McAreavey.jpg
Bank of Ireland 10 Pounds Polymer Error 31st May 2017 McAreavey.jpg (113.39 KiB) Viewed 18839 times
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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Interesting indeed. Do you have a pic of the reverse also?
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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Here is a picture of the reverse.
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Bank of Ireland 10 Pounds Polymer Error Reverse.jpg
Bank of Ireland 10 Pounds Polymer Error Reverse.jpg (113.09 KiB) Viewed 18723 times
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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It has been reported that Danske Bank plans to introduce a polymer £20 note on July 20th.

Bank of Ireland £20 polymer notes will also be launched on the same day.
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Danske Bank 20 Pounds Polymer Specimen 6th July 2019 Kingston.jpg
Danske Bank 20 Pounds Polymer Specimen 6th July 2019 Kingston.jpg (197.92 KiB) Viewed 17996 times
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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Here are images of the new Bank of Ireland £20 polymer note, standard issue and specimen. The note was released into circulation on July 20th and bears the signature of Francesca McDonagh, Group Chief Executive of Bank of Ireland. This is a significant milestone as it appears to be the first time the signature of a woman has appeared on a note issued by a bank based in Ireland.

The note is attractively designed and the appearance of the hologram changes depending on the method used to scan or photograph it. This is due to the presence of iridescent ink which changes depending on the angle of tilt. It is difficult to capture the face of Mercury but the image of the specimen note manages to capture this feature nicely.
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Bank of Ireland 20 Pounds 2nd October 2017 Francesca McDonagh.jpg
Bank of Ireland 20 Pounds 2nd October 2017 Francesca McDonagh.jpg (159.82 KiB) Viewed 17960 times
Bank of Ireland 20 Pounds 2nd October 2017 Francesca McDonagh R.jpg
Bank of Ireland 20 Pounds 2nd October 2017 Francesca McDonagh R.jpg (158.53 KiB) Viewed 17960 times
Bank of Ireland 20 Pounds Specimen 2nd October 2017 Francesca McDonagh.jpg
Bank of Ireland 20 Pounds Specimen 2nd October 2017 Francesca McDonagh.jpg (44.05 KiB) Viewed 17960 times
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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A nice addition to the series, still with some original elements from the 1815 designs present!
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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It appears that Bank of Ireland and Danske Bank are not using a marked replacement note system for their new £20 polymer notes. Perhaps the error rate does not justify the use of replacement notes with a special prefix.

Ulster Bank plans to issue its £20 polymer notes later this year. I recently came across this image of a specimen note, dated 22nd February 2020.
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Ulster Bank 20 Pounds Specimen 22nd Feb. 2020 Ross McEwan.jpg
Ulster Bank 20 Pounds Specimen 22nd Feb. 2020 Ross McEwan.jpg (44.46 KiB) Viewed 17151 times
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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These notes continue the Ulster Bank tradition of not having any portraits on their notes, which I think they have had since their first note issues.
A pity about the lack of replacement notes—no obvious rarities!
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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Here is an interesting £5 polymer error note issued in 1999 by The Northern Bank and up for auction later this month at DNW. The intaglio printing is completely missing from the front side. A normal note is attached for comparison.
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Northern Bank 5 Pounds Polymer Error 8th October 1999 Price.jpg
Northern Bank 5 Pounds Polymer Error 8th October 1999 Price.jpg (100.95 KiB) Viewed 16449 times
Northern Bank 5 Pounds 8th October 1999 Price.jpg
Northern Bank 5 Pounds 8th October 1999 Price.jpg (127.31 KiB) Viewed 16449 times
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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An attractive error of an attractive note!
It also serves as a good illustration of the layers of printing on the note.
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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The Ulster Bank finally released its new £20 polymer note this week on October 14th. There are some surprises. The date, signature and signature title differ from the earlier specimens. The new date is 22nd February 2019 and the new signature title is, Chief Financial Officer.

The signature is a little difficult to figure out and it is not mentioned whose signature it is, on the Bank’s website. It appears to be ‘Katie Murray’ and this would make sense given that she is the Chief Financial Officer of NatWest Group, owners of Ulster Bank. A specimen note with the latest signature is attached.
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UB 20 Pounds Specimen 22nd February 2019 Katie Murray.jpg
UB 20 Pounds Specimen 22nd February 2019 Katie Murray.jpg (56.39 KiB) Viewed 16251 times
UB £20 22nd Feb. 2019 Reverse.jpg
UB £20 22nd Feb. 2019 Reverse.jpg (41.32 KiB) Viewed 16251 times
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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Will any of the banks go to £50 notes, I wonder.
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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Interesting question about the possibility of higher denomination polymer notes. I have not seen any mention of plans to introduce polymer £50 or £100 notes but this would seem to be inevitable as stocks of paper notes run out.

Here is an issued example of the recently released Ulster Bank £20 polymer note. The reverse of the note depicts Derry’s world-famous Halloween celebrations. In keeping with the Halloween theme, the watermarks feature bats and skeletons. These can be seen under UV light.
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Ulster Bank £20 2019 under UV Light.JPG
Ulster Bank £20 2019 under UV Light.JPG (63.56 KiB) Viewed 15867 times
Ulster Bank 20 Pounds 22nd Feb. 2019 Katie Murray.jpg
Ulster Bank 20 Pounds 22nd Feb. 2019 Katie Murray.jpg (119.09 KiB) Viewed 15867 times
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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I would at this point consider the issue of a polymer £50 an inevitability, due to the reduction of buying power and inflation over the past three decades. A £100 however, is much less certain.
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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The Ulster £20 is a nice note.
And it looks good in UV!
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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Ulster Bank have issued a new £20 polymer note, dated 1st March 2021. An interesting feature is the new promissory statement which now refers to National Westminster Bank Plc.
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Ulster-Bank-20-Pounds-1st-March-2021-Katie-Murray.jpg
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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That's an interesting development for Ulster Bank notes!
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Re: New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

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Here is an issued example of the first £20 Danske Bank polymer note, dated 2019.
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Danske Bank 20 Pounds Polymer Note 6th July 2019 Kevin Kingston.jpg
Danske Bank 20 Pounds Polymer Note 6th July 2019 Kevin Kingston.jpg (181.83 KiB) Viewed 8807 times
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