••• Auctions and Events calendar: What's on, where and when • Events related to Irish Banknote collecting

[Mac]

Noonan's Auction of Paper Money
27 July 2023. British and Irish Banknotes

The latest Noonan’s Mayfair auction in the British and Irish Banknotes series has 450 lots of notes from the British Isles.
There are 109 Lots of Irish banknotes, with a good range of Ploughman notes. The catalogue is available online: www.noonans.co.uk


Highlights of the sale include the following Lots.

Irish joint stock banks
Lot 223. Bank of Ireland, £1, 29 October 1881. Est. £3,000-£4,000. Attractive Fine.
A nice example of a Craig signature note with 4 lines of branches in sans-serif type.

Consolidated Bank Notes 'Ploughman series'
Lot 268. Currency Commission, Hibernian Bank, £1, 10 April 1939. GVF. Est £300-£400. Hibernian £1 notes are scarce this nice, and this example ought to do well.
Lot 270. Currency Commission, Hibernian Bank, £10, 2 October 1931. fine with minor ink marks. Est £1,200-£1,600.
It has been a while since a decent Hibernian £10 note has been offered - this example ought to do well.
Lot 272. Currency Commission, National Bank Ltd, £1,3 January 1936. Nice GVF-EF. Est £240-£300.
Lot 273. Currency Commission, National Bank Ltd, £5, 15.3.33. Nice AEF. Est £1,000-£1,500.
This example is from a known run of sequential notes in grades ranging from GVF to AU.
Lot 279. Currency Commission, Ulster Bank, £10, 9 August 1939. GVF. Est £3,000-£4,000. Conservatively estimated, this note will likely fetch double the estimate. It is the nicest grade Ulster £10 note to be offered in over a decade.

Legal Tender notes 'Lady Lavery series'
Lot 281. Currency Commission Ireland,£5, 9 March 1939. GVF. Est £200-£260. Well better than average grade for a 1939 £5 note.
Lot 284. Currency Commission Ireland, £1, 8 January 1942, About EF. Est £180-£220. A nice example of a war code £1 note.
Lot 287. Currency Commission Ireland, £5, 5 June 1942. Original VF. Est £200-£260. War code D, one of the more difficult codes to obtain in decent grade.

Lot 306. Central Bank of Ireland, specimen £50, 2 May 1905 (fictitious date), Whitaker and
Murray signatures. Est £1,000-£1,400. A less common specimen with ‘Specimen’ perforated rather than printed.
Lot 308. Central Bank of Ireland, £100, 10 April 1975. Est £600-£800. GEF. A nice example which should sell well.
Lot 310. Central Bank of Ireland, £10 replacement note, 10 February 1975. Est £150-£240. GEF-AU. Lavery £10 replacement notes are scarce this nice, and seldom offered. this example should do better than the estimate.


Some Lots to watch
Lot 316 and Lot 317. Central Bank of Ireland, £50, 4 April 1977.
Two notes in sequence. Both notes are graded PMG 64 EPQ, and estimated at £1,200-£1,600. This pair of notes will be an interesting test of the market for the sub-66 grade range for these notes.

Lot 318, Lot 319 and Lot 320. Central Bank of Ireland, £100, 4 April 1977.
Three £100 notes in sequence, the first EF (Est £400-£500), the subsequent two GVF (Est £300-£400 each). These will be a good test of the general collector market for these notes.
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[Mac]

Spink Auction of World Banknotes
Tuesday 26 September 2023


Spink have launched their current World Banknotes auction. The auction takes place on Tuesday 26 Sept.
https://live.spink.com

The sale includes some interesting Irish banknotes.
Among a small selection of Consolidated Bank Notes 'Ploughman series' (all previously recorded in PSS [ ]) is Lot 152. VF 30 EPQ. Northern Bank £1, 7.1.31. This note is one of the better grade examples, last seen in Sothebys 1995, Ex Hopkins collection. Est £3,400-£4,200. This estimate is a bit high.

There are also some interesting National Bank Limited specimen notes (Series D, 1921–1927).
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Lot 141, National Bank Limited £50 25 November 1920. Graded 62, but with mould damage. Est £1,500-£2,500.
The damage on the reverse of the £50 has lead to some discolouration.

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Lot 142, National Bank Limited £100 30 November 1920. Graded 58, with mould damage. Est £2,500-£3,500.

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Although these notes were likely issued in small quantities, no surviving examples are known.
The tricky issue with notes like this is that they may have been produced in large quantities. Mould damage might put bidders off.


A few other specimens of the National Bank from the 1920s are also on offer.
All of them have the same mould damage.

Lot 136, £1 National Bank Limited (undated, 1929-1934). Graded 53, with mould damage. Est £3,000-£5,000. This estimate is very optimistic, considering that a £10 (a much rarer note) specimen dated 1929, graded 64 was sold for £1,300 plus fees in Spink’s sale 29 Sept 2022.

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Lot 140, £1 National Bank Limited 1 September 1926. Graded 62 Net, but with mould damage. Est £800-£1,200.

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Lot 167, £10 National Bank Limited 10th May 1927. Graded 62, also with mould damage. Est £1,000-£1,500.

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[Mac]

Noonan's Auction of Paper Money
12 October 2023. British and Irish Banknotes

The latest Noonan’s Mayfair auction in the British and Irish Banknotes series has 469 lots of notes from the British Isles.
There are 130 Lots of Irish banknotes, including a nice section of of Ploughman notes. The catalogue can be downloaded from: www.noonans.co.uk

The sale includes 47 Lots of watermark samples from some British Isles banknotes, a special collection, Paper and Proofs from the Portals Archives including some from the Irish Ploughman and Lavery series.


Highlights of the sale include the following.

Irish private banks
Lot 220. Shaws Bank, £10, 13 January 1836. Est £700-£900. Fine. Quite a rare note.
Lot 222. Cork Bank, for Charles Henry Leslie & John Leslie, £1, 24 October 1825. Est £260-£360. Fine.
Lot 224. Mallow Bank, for Robert de la Cour and Richard Jonson Cuthbert, 30 Shillings, 2 June 1820. Est £600-£800. VG-Fine.


Irish joint stock banks
Lot 252. The National Bank Limited, £10, 10 December 1918. Est. £1,500-£2,000. Overall Fine.
A presentable example of the latest date recorded for large size £10 notes, with seven lines of branches.

Lot 254. National Bank Limited, £5, 5th October 1925. Est. £4,000-£5,000.
The finest known example of a National Bank Limited Series D £5 note.This one will be interesting, as it sold for a record price of £8,000 plus fees in DNW (now Noonans) on Thursday 26 August 2021, well above its estimate of £2,600.

Lot 255. National Bank Limited, watermarked paper as used on the 1929 to 1934 issue including the £1, £5, £10 and £20, glued into blue card frame with ink annotation, as produced, the only example of this watermark in the Portals archive, Est £100-£150.

This is the first instance of several Lots of examples of examples watermarked paper used for Irish banknotes, made by Portals.
It will be interesting to see how well these sell throughout the sale. Not for everyone, more of research interest. All are likely to sell, probably above estimate.

Lots 257, 258, 259 are National Bank Limited, watermarked paper as used on the 1937 to 1964 Northern Irish issues.

Lot 275. Provincial Bank of Ireland, £1, fraudulently altered to £10, Clonmel, 1 December 1828. Est £200-£300.
Not sure if this is a contemporary forgery.

Lot 285. Provincial Bank of Ireland Ltd, obverse and reverse steel printing plates for £20, type of 1929. Est £150-£200.
Another interesting item!

Lot 300. Ulster Banking Company, printing plates for elements of the 1836 issue. Est £100-£150.


Consolidated Bank Notes 'Ploughman series'
The section on Ploughman notes opens with specimens of watermarked paper for the three lower denominations.
Lot 315. Currency Commission, Ploughman Series, watermarked papers as used on the £1, £5 and £10, issued from 1929 to 1940, including the coloured fibres found on the issued notes, all in blue card frames, with ink annotations. Est £300-£400.
Lot 316. Similar.

Next up are some higher grade examples of scarce mulberry serial Ploughman notes. Prices for notes in these grades have been very good recently, and these will test the solidity of this trend. Similar grade notes in past sales were heavily contested.
It will be interesting to see if there is any premium for mulberry Ploughman notes.
Lot 317. Currency Commission, Bank of Ireland, £1, 3 July 1939, mulberry serial number. AU55. Est £1,000-£1,500.
Lot 318. Currency Commission, Bank of Ireland, £1, 3 July 1939, mulberry serial number. EF45 EPQ. Est £1,000-£1,500.
It will be interesting to see which of these notes does better, lower grade note has EPQ mark.

Lot 319. Currency Commission, Hibernian Bank, £1, 5 August 1939, mulberry serial number. VF40. Est £600-£800.

Lot 321. Currency Commission, Munster & Leinster Bank Ltd, £1, 4 May 1937, number 30MA 096403. AU55 EPQ. Est £1,500-£2,000.
This note is part of a run in sequence, known for many years. Another note from the group (30MA 096404, in sequence with this mulberry note) with normal coloured serial numbers and graded AU 58, numbers sold for £2,600 in noonans March 2023 sale, Lot 64.

Lot 322. Currency Commission, National Bank Ltd, £1, 2 September 1939, partial mulberry serial number 43NA 052266. . AU50 EPQ. Est £1,500-£2,000. Not sure if this will make it to the top estimate.
Lot 327. Currency Commission, Provincial Bank, £10, 2 October 1931. Top right corner missing. Est £800-£1,200.
Tricky to put a value on a note like this – corner missing but repairable on a common note, otherwise looks Good fine with pencil on face and reverse.
Lot 331. Currency Commission, Ulster Bank, £1, 9 July 1934. Good Fine. Est £180-£240. A bit grubby, but should do better than estimate.


Legal Tender notes 'Lady Lavery series'
Lot 330. Currency Commission, Irish Free State, 10 Shillings, 23 October 1928. AU. Est £800-£1,000. Well better than average grade for this note. A nice example with good eye appeal.

Lot 332. Currency Commission/Central Bank of Ireland, Lady Lavery Series, watermarked paper featuring the head of Erin, as used on 10 Shillings, £1, £5 and £10 from 1928 until 1977. Est £400-£500.
The first of three lots of Legal Tender series watermarked paper,

Lot 344. Central Bank of Ireland, £100, 4 April 1977. UNC65 EPQ. Est £1,500-£2,000.
This note will be an interesting test of the fall of shot on graded notes. We have seen £50 and £100 notes graded 64 selling around £1,000, and those graded 66 selling around £2,800. Where a 65 falls remains to be seen.

Lots 345 and 346 are sequential GEF examples of Central Bank of Ireland, £100, 4 April 1977. Est £300-£400 each. They ought to both do well.

Lot 344. Central Bank of Ireland, £100, 22 August 1996. UNC67 EPQ. Est £1,000-£1,500.
These notes are heavily sought after in higher grades. This one will likely sell around the lower estimate.
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[callahiljo]

I went into Spink to view the National Bank specimens but they were away being slabbed. Images of the graded notes are now on their website. They are graded between 53 (About Unc) and 62 (UNC) with a note on the reverse of the label that they are "stained". With such surprisingly high grading the £50 and £100 are already attracting strong bids. Now the notes are encapsulated the chances of further deterioration, if the staining is indeed mould, are quite high in my view. I wanted to check the condition of the paper, whether it was banknote paper or plain, and whether it was watermarked. Impossible to tell from the posted images.

The £50 and £100 specimens are the first ones to have been seen on the market as the only other examples known are those in the RBS archives (and illustrated in PMI 2nd ed). No doubt a £20 specimen will appear at a future auction. Are there more out there? Who knows but it is worth bearing in mind that another example of the never previously seen Southern Bank of Ireland £10 in black and blue, is also in a Spink sale. It is heavily stained and unslabbed so may go for rather less than the one they had last year. So more of these National Bank specimens could possibly appear.

All I can say is that they are the first £50s and £100s I have seen on the market since I started collecting back in the 1970s!

[Mac]

A pity they are slabbed, making it difficult to examine properly. I think that it highly likely that the 'staining' is mould damage.
I also think that more of these National specimens will surface at some stage.

[Mac]

Spink Auction of World Banknotes
4 October, 2023 2023


Spink have a World Banknotes e-auction which ends on 4 Oct.
https://www.spink.com

Among a sizable offering of Northern Ireland notes, the sale includes a few interesting early Irish banknotes, including three early Northern Bank proofs, and a Southern Bank of Ireland £10 (ca.1937).
Lot 1347. Northern Ireland, Northern Bank, £4, Belfast, 18-- (1820-24). Est £120-£180.
Lot 1348. Northern Ireland, Northern Bank, £20, Belfast, 18-- (1820-24). Est £120-£180.
Lot 1349. Northern Ireland, Northern Bank, 25 Shillings, Belfast, 182- (1824). Est £120-£180.
Lot 1372. The Southern Bank of Ireland, Cork £10, 18--, no serial number, Series L. Est £180-£200.


It will be interesting to see what these unissued items go for.
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[Mac]

Whyte's History Sale
11 November 2023


Whytes have a History Sale e-auction which ends on 11 Nov.
https://www.whytes.ie

Among the banknotes, the sale includes:
Lot 277a. Currency Commission 'Ploughman' Bank of Ireland Ten Pounds, 6-5-29. VG. Est 1,200-1,500 Euro.
Lot 279. Central Bank ‘Lady Lavery’ One Hundred Pounds, 4-4-77, a rare sequential pair. About EF. Est 500-700 Euro.


Also in the sale are some Ballykinlar tokens.
Lot 90. 1920-1923 Ballykinlar Camp tokens for use by Republican internees. 7 tokens. Est 1,500-2,000 Euro.
A very rare complete set of these tokens - penny, threepence, sixpence, shilling, five shillings, ten shillings and one pound. They were designed and printed by O’Loughlin Murphy & Boland Ltd., Dublin.


Of note is a rare GAA football program:
Lot 45. 1913 (14 December) GAA All Ireland Football Final, Kerry v Wexford, extremely rare programme. Est 6,000-8,000 Euro.


The star Lot of the sale had to be Lot 55 - a unique item!
Lot 55. 1913 (9 December) Pádraig Pearse’s membership card for The Irish Volunteers. Along with some other items. Est 150,000-250,000 Euro.
Described as 'A unique and extremely valuable relic of Pádraig Pearse, author of The Proclamation of The Irish Republic and Commander in Chief of the Irish Volunteers during The 1916 Rising'.
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Lot 90. A complete set of Ballykinlar Camp tokens.


EDIT:
Lot 55 did not sell. The others did well:
Lot 90. Ballykinlar Camp tokens, hammer at 3,200 Euro.
Lot 45. 1913 GAA All Ireland Football Final, Kerry v Wexford, hammer at 8,000 Euro.
Lot 277a. Bank of Ireland Ten Pounds Ploughman, 6-5-29, hammer at 2,200 Euro.
Lot 279. One Hundred Pounds, 4-4-77, sequential pair. About EF, hammer at 2,000 Euro.

Good results.