Skit & Advertising Notes Ireland

[DOC]

Skit notes and advertising notes resemble banknotes but are not intended to be used as such. Their design is often based on real banknotes with a humorous or satirical twist. These notes frequently contain interesting commentary on the social and political situation of the time and often provide insights regarding early note designs.

Here is an example of a skit note with an Irish association, promoting the Christmas Pantomime at The Theatre Royal, Dublin, in 1848. The design is based on a Bank of Ireland £1 of the late 1840’s. An example of a Bank of Ireland £1 banknote (albeit a contemporary forgery) is included for comparison.

[Mac]

It is a very good likeness. I wonder if the skit note is of a similar size to the actual note.

[Mac]

Here is another skit note based on a Bank of Ireland £1 note, this one from 1918-1919, I believe – a £1 note of the era is pictured below it for comparison.
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Royal-College-of-Surgeons-Dublin-Tea-skit-note.jpg (102.73 KiB) Viewed 2731 times

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This note was in DNW (now Noonans) Banknote sale on 14 March 2009, Lot 1000, and is a particular favourite of mine.

Whiteside & Co Promise to give the bearer on Demand One Pound Tea
at their premises Market Entrance South Great Georges Street Dublin

Signed by the Professor of Chemistry
Royal College of Surgeons
Charles A. Cameron.

Charles Alexander Cameron (1830-1921) was elected professor of chemistry to the College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1874, according to the Noonans Lot footnote.

[DOC]

Here is a skit note based on the design of a Bank of Ireland £100 note from the Series introduced in 1838. The large compressed text reads ‘FIRST PRIZE IN PRIZE DRAWING’. There are no known surviving examples of a real Bank of Ireland £100 note from this era, so the skit note provides a useful insight to the design.

[DOC]

Here is a skit note for the ‘Bank of Comfort’ based on a Bank of Ireland £100 note from the 1830’s. The note is an advertisement for Kilroy’s Hotel in Galway and promises to ‘serve up a dinner or supper as well as any man or forfeit 100 pounds’. The note bears the signature of John Kilroy proprietor of the hotel and is dated 1st April 1833. As no examples of Bank of Ireland £100 notes from this era are known to have survived, this note provides a useful insight into the design used as well as capturing some interesting social history of the time.

[Mac]

That is a super example. It has followed the general design of mid-1830s Bank of Ireland notes, with twin Hibernia vignettes. It is well printed also. A very useful insight into the design of the £100.

[DOC]

Yes, the print quality is remarkably good and there is a printer’s imprint ‘Johnston, Edin.’ This respected engraving company, W. & A. K. Johnston, was based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

They also printed a skit note for £5 dated 1833 and based on the Bank of Ireland £5 notes of the time. The realistic appearance of these notes resulted in attempts to pass them as genuine notes in the 1830’s.

[Mac]

Interesting! £5 was quite a large amount back then. I guess that the shop-boy was not familiar with the notes.
And, it didn't take long to catch the person who had passed the note!

[callahiljo]

An interesting piece of Irish social history in the form of a skit or advertising note was in Noonans most recent sale. Jimmy O'Dea and Harry O'Donovan worked together in Dublin from 1929 according to O'Dea's Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_O%27Dea

The note itself is simply designed and undated but would probably have been issued around 1929.

[DOC]

Yes, those skit notes provide an interesting insight into the social history of the time. Jimmy O’Dea is also well known for his work in pantomine with actress Maureen Potter. There may well be other examples of skit notes out there associated with the theatre in Ireland.

[DOC]

This skit note of The Bank of Hymen is based on Bank of Ireland £1 notes from the late it 1840’s. The date suggests that it was produced to celebrate Valentine’s Day in the 1860’s. The note was sold at Noonan’s as part of the Sir David Kirch Collection of Skit Notes in March 2023.

[Mac]

I wonder what the Bank of Ireland thought of this note - it is quite a good copy of the design!

[DOC]

This advertising note of The Bank of Erin, in the style of a National Bank of Ireland £1, was issued in the early 1900’s and bears a 1901 date. The note was issued by the shoe and boot company, Griffin Ward’s, who had a chain of shops throughout Ireland in the late 1890’s, early 1900’s. The note mentions an address at 68 South Great George’s Street and it is possible that notes were issued by other branches.

The O/O fractional prefix is interesting and suggests that the note was modelled on a National Bank note from the 1890’s. A National Bank note with prefix C/C is shown for comparison.

[Mac]

Interesting to see a skit note based on a banknote from a bank other than the Bank of Ireland. It is quite a good copy too.

[DOC]

Bank of Ireland £3 notes are rare but this is the first example of a $3 dollar note that I have seen !

It is actually an advertising note issued by Philip Stiner, a tea merchant in New York. The note is thought to date from the 1870’s and is up for auction at Heritage Auctions in the USA.