Bank of Ireland • from 1783

[DOC]

Here is an interesting article providing details of the ‘new’ 1838 Bank of Ireland issue. The design is attributed to Mr. Oldham of the Bank of Ireland. Contemporary accounts identify Mr. Oldham as Thomas Oldham, head of the printing and engraving department of the bank. There has been much debate about the nature of the heads at the top of the note. In this case they are described as ‘Egyptian heads’ !

[Mac]

A very interesting snippet – suggesting that the notes were first issued several months after their dates of issue. I wonder who coined the phrase ‘Egyptian heads’.

[callahiljo]

Here is a new Bank of Ireland £1 sighting and a nice early date. Only the third date of the type with the branches in five lines of text and the prefix letter G: 14 Jul 1908 G/72 51249 (plate 44). The note has just sold in Stacks Bowers www.stacksbowers.com for a hammer price of $1,440.

Since the 2nd edition of PMI came out I have added three dates to notes seen dated between 1908 and 1917, the other two being 12 Mar 1912 H/43 34098 (plate 27) and 26 Jan 1914 H/76 94471 (plate 11).

That brings the total dates now recorded to 69, though the theoretical total should be at least 230. That's 23,000,000 notes, assuming 100,000 notes per prefix. So far each prefix has been assigned a different date (or maybe that should be the other way round!).

Plenty more opportunity for research here.

[Mac]

...assuming 100,000 notes per prefix. So far each prefix has been assigned a different date.

100,000 notes per prefix, and one date per prefix is correct according to all observations. No recorded date has ever fallen on a Sunday, so working days only appear to have been used.

[Mac]

$1,440 is a nice solid price, well above its estimate of 500-1000, for a VF20, the lower end of the VF scale. One wonders what a similar early Baskin signature note in gVF might fetch these days.