New Polymer Notes for Northern Ireland

[ThePloughman]

We should not expect to find any with ZZ prefix.

Less to collect there then.

[DOC]

Here are some nice scans of the issued Bank of Ireland £5 and £10 polymer notes. As sections of the notes are transparent, the appearance can vary depending on the colour of the background used for the scan (black for the attached examples).

In the new design, the Bank has dispensed with the line of heads at the top of the note, a feature present on Bank of Ireland notes stretching back to 1838. In a nod to tradition there is one head on the right side of the note. The Bank describes this head as ‘The Head of Medusa’ in the attached link?

[DOC]

Bank of Ireland £5 and £10 polymer notes have been seen with the first run prefix, AA. So a comparison with the prefixes used for the last paper issue indicates that the prefixes have been reset (scans attached) and suggests that the Bank regards the Bushmills Polymer notes as a new series.

[Mac]

Less to collect there then!

[DOC]

Danske Bank also reset the serial number prefix upon introduction of its £10 polymer note which suggests that the bank considers its polymer notes to be part of a distinct issue. Curiously, most issued notes seen to date have prefix AB although there is an original promotional photo showing notes of prefix AA.

[Mac]

There are presumably a million AA prefix notes waiting to be issued then!

[DOC]

Ulster Bank has announced plans to launch a new £20 polymer note in 2020. Images attached and details available in the [ur=]https://www.rbs.com/rbs/news/2019/08/ul ... signs.html rel="nofollow"]link[/url].

[Mac]

I wonder if they will go on to £50 and £100 denominations.
I can't get used to the design, somewhat unmoneylike. Still, I expect it will grow on us as we use the notes in circulation.

[DOC]

Here is a nice scan of the standard issue Danske £10 polymer note. More than 9 months after the initial launch, the AA prefix notes have yet to appear.

[DOC]

Here is a nice scan of the standard issue Ulster Bank £5 polymer note bearing the date 12th April 2018 and signature of Ross McEwan. The original specimen of the £5 polymer note dated 2nd June 2017 has a different signature, J.Brown. There are also some minor design differences such as the absence of the £ sign in the denomination description of the specimen, lower left.

[Mac]

New issues are always good for collectors - little design amendments creep in to create new varieties!

[DOC]

Here is a later example of an Ulster Bank £5 specimen polymer note with the signature of Ross McEwan. The design is similar to that of the standard issue note of the same date and differs from that of the original J.Brown specimen.

[DOC]

The AA prefix Danske Bank £10 notes have finally been released. It is interesting to see that the first examples have high serial numbers.

[Mac]

It is interesting to see that the first examples have high serial numbers.

They are taking them from the top of the bales!

[DOC]

That makes perfect sense

[DOC]

It should be acknowledged that The Northern Bank was the first to introduce polymer notes in Northern Ireland and indeed the UK as far back as 1999. To mark the Millennium, the last £5 notes issued by the bank were produced in polymer form with a futuristic design. Examples of the standard issue and replacement notes are shown. It is interesting to note that the standard issue note has prefix MM while the rare replacement note has prefix N.

The notes have transparent sections. This leads to the appearance of the notes changing depending on the background used to scan or photograph them. A cool feature is that the stars shine bright when photographed under a light coloured background.

[ThePloughman]

I always like this bill. Here is a specimen MM000000 of the series.

northern-bank-5-specimen-1999.jpg (41.8 KiB) Viewed 13803 times

[DOC]

Thanks Ploughman, interesting to see that this specimen note is numbered.

[Mac]

I have not seen one of these before — nice angle on the SPECIMEN wording.

[DOC]

A second polymer date was issued on the 1st January 2000. These were the last £5 notes issued by the Bank. The serial number prefix is Y2K to mark the first date of The New Millennium.

Y2K brings to mind the Millennium computer bug and fears that the date change from 99 to 00 could wreak havoc with computer systems. Little did we know then that 20 years later a real life bug, the Corona Virus, would pose a greater threat.