Northern Banking Company Notes Pre-1929

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 07 May 2023 12:33

Here is a Northern Banking Company £4 proof note, single branch (Belfast), Second Issue, 1825-1850. This denomination is unusual and seldom seen for any of the Irish Joint Stock Banks.

Mac · Post by **Mac** » 07 May 2023 14:41

Besides the Northern, I have only seen examples of £4 notes for the Provincial Bank of Ireland, which issued the denomination in its early days.

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 21 May 2023 14:25

Here is an interesting example of the late use of a bank post bill by an Irish Joint Stock bank. The title of the bank, Northern Banking Company Limited, suggests that this post bill is from old stock dating back at least to the 1920’s.

Peter Symes provides an excellent overview of Bank Post Bills in the following article.
www. pjsymes.com.au/articles/PostNotes.htm#note_20

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 27 Aug 2023 11:46

Like the Bank of Ireland, the Northern Banking Company used post bills. Here is an unissued example from the 1860’s drawn by the bank upon Bank of Ireland.

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 10 Sep 2023 12:38

The Northern Banking Company was established as a joint stock banking company in 1824, taking advantage of a change in law which ended the monopoly position of the Bank of Ireland. The Northern Banking Company issued its first notes in 1825 incorporating a vignette of a ship along with a plough and loom and this design feature was maintained for many years right up to 1968.

I recently came across a £1 Specimen note of Manchester Bank printed in 1820 by Perkins Fairman & Heath which has the same vignette as adopted by The Northern Banking Company in 1825. It seems that the Manchester Bank never used the design and it was repurposed by the engravers and printers for the Northern Banking Company by adding the name ‘HIBERNIA’ to the ship. There are also some other minor modifications if you can spot them !

: Northern-Banking-Company-Vignette-1-Pound-Specimen-ca1863.jpg (74.78 KiB) Viewed 34846 times

: Manchester-Bank-Vignette-1-Pound-Specimen-ca1820.jpg (116.12 KiB) Viewed 34846 times

: Manchester-Bank-William-Jones-&-Co.-1-Pound-Specimen-Unissued-ca1820.jpg (79.89 KiB) Viewed 34846 times

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 05 May 2024 12:22

Here is a nice example of a 25 Shillings note, Belfast Branch, from the Second Issue of The Northern Banking Company in proof form which dates from 1825-1850. A contemporary forgery of this note dated 1830 is included for comparison.

Mac · Post by **Mac** » 05 May 2024 13:28

I am not aware of surviving issued examples of any denomination of Northern Bank notes this early.

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 23 Jun 2024 21:27

This Northern Banking Company £10 proof note, printed by Carpenter & Co., was sold at Spink World Banknote Auction (24100) in March 2024. It is from the First Issue, denominated in Irish pounds and payable to John McCance Esq., Chairman of the Committee. The assimilation of the Irish currency into the British currency system took place on the 6th January 1826, and prompted the Northern Banking Company to withdraw the 1825 Issue and introduce a new issue in 1826, denominated in British currency.

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 08 Sep 2024 12:07

This Ipswich Bank £10 note from the 1820’s bears a striking resemblance to the Northern Banking Company £10 from 1825. Banknote engravers frequently integrated similar design features into the notes of different banks.

Mac · Post by **Mac** » 10 Sep 2024 19:51

Yes, reusing elements, and each others' ideas!

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 15 Dec 2024 17:14

This Northern Banking Company 30 Shillings Proof note appeared at the Spink World Banknote Auction (November 2024). It is from the short lived 1825 First Issue and is denominated in Irish currency. An issued example, dated 1st October 1825, is also known in the Bank’s archives.

callahiljo · Post by **callahiljo** » 11 Apr 2025 10:47

This extremely rare Northern Bank £20 was sold in Spink for £5800 just a few days ago. Only two are known, this one and the one with consecutive serial numbers illustrated in PMI. The first time one has been offered on the open market.

callahiljo · Post by **callahiljo** » 11 Apr 2025 10:53

The same Spink auction also featured another rarity, a Northern Bank £50 note dated 1883. It hammered for "only" £2600 thanks probably to the very large cancellation holes in it. Note the rubber stamp additions of BELFAST and DUBLIN in the upper corners - later added to the plates of all the notes following the opening of the bank's Dublin branch in 1888.

It is the only known issued note of this type - a small number of proofs do however exist.

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 13 Apr 2025 14:19

The £50 denomination is unusual in having no branches listed. It was most likely only issued at the Head Office in Belfast or Dublin when it became a Principal Office in 1888. The note is signed by one of the directors of the bank, Thomas Montgomery, which suggests that only a high ranking official could issue a note of such high value.

Mac · Post by **Mac** » 13 Apr 2025 23:22

A superb pair of notes to be sold on the market.

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 20 Apr 2025 13:04

The Northern Banking Company introduced branches on its £50 notes in 1912. Here is an example of a £50 proof note from 1912 sold recently at Noonan’s March 2025 British and Irish Banknotes Auction. An example of a similar issued note dated, 5th August 1914, with a Northern Bank Limited Belfast overprint is also illustrated. The overprinted notes were issued during and after 1929 for use in Northern Ireland.

DOC · Post by **DOC** » 18 May 2025 10:54

An interesting selection of rare Northern Banking Company notes was recently sold at Spink’s World Banknote Auction 25008. This early date £5 from 1895 is uniface, and is signed by James Gardner. Uniface £5 notes were issued up to 1907.