1856) A 50 Pounds Paper/Cotton Banknote issued by the Bank of Ireland: 2013 Banknote Series:
Bank of Ireland (UK) plc issues banknotes in denominations of £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100.
Although the Bank of Ireland (UK) is not a Central Bank, it does have Sterling note-issuing rights in the United Kingdom.
While Bank of Ireland is headquartered in Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, it has operations in Northern Ireland, where it retains the legal right (dating from before the partition of the Ireland) to print its own banknotes. These are pound sterling notes and equal in value to Bank of England notes.
Common features to all Bank of Ireland Banknotes:
The Front of Bank of Ireland Banknotes features the Bank of Ireland logo, below which is a line of heraldic shields each representing one of the six counties of Northern Ireland.
Further below is a depiction of a seated Hibernia figure, surrounded by the Latin motto of the Bank, "Bona Fides Reipublicae Stabilitas" ("Good Faith is the Cornerstone of the State").
Prior to 2008, all Bank of Ireland notes featured an image of the Queen's University of Belfast on the Back.
The Bank of Ireland Banknote Series issued in April 2008 - 400th Anniversary of the Old Bushmills Distillery (1608-2008):
This Series of Bank of Ireland new look Banknotes, in denominations of £5, £10 and £20, were issued in April 2008, to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the Old Bushmills Distillery, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the licence to distil whiskey that was granted to the area around Bushmills in 1608.
The Front of the Banknotes carried the same design.
The Backs of the Banknotes of the new series of £5, £10 and £20 notes featured an image of the iconic distillery which is the main employer in north coast village of Bushmills and a tourist attraction in its own right, hosting over 120,000 visitors last year.
About the Bushmills Distillery:
In April 1608, King James I granted a licence to distil whiskey to the territory then called ‘the Rowte’ in Co. Antrim.
Even then, distilling was a tradition in the area and today Bushmills Distillery is proud to be Ireland’s oldest working distillery and to be recognised by Bank of Ireland as an icon of Northern Ireland.
The licence was first granted to make whiskey in Co. Antrim in 1608.
But the Bushmills Distillery didn’t become official until 1784. Hugh Anderson registered the distillery at this time and the Pot Still became the registered trademark which is still used today to denote quality and distinction.
Bushmills fell prey to rising taxes in the 1850s when the tax on grains was increased.
Malted barley is an essential component of Bushmills, and when rising taxes hit the barley causing many distilleries to change their recipe, Bushmills stuck to their guns and paid the increase in order to keep consistency.
That paid off because as the 1800s and 1900s progressed, Bushmills became an award-winning whiskey, including winning the only gold medal for whiskey in Paris in 1889.
Literary recognition came later, with James Joyce mentioning Bushmills in his epic novel Ulysses.
When prohibition ended in 1933, it made Belfast merchant Samuel Wilson very happy indeed. He had bought the distillery ten years previously, and held faith that prohibition in America would be lifted and his whiskey would sell like a dream! Which it did. And made him his fortune as he had always believed!
The Second World War stopped production of Bushmills and a bomb attack on the Dublin offices destroyed all the company archives. But as the war ended and the boom years kicked in, production resumed and the whiskey proved as popular as it ever was. Demand in the USA rose substantially.
Bushmills celebrated 400 years in production in 2008. A huge occasion which saw the Bank of Ireland print pictures of the distillery on its banknotes!
The Bank of Ireland Banknote Series issued in 01/2013:
The current series of Bank of Ireland Banknotes, in denominations of £5, £10, £20 and £50, were issued in 2013.
On the Front, all of the denominations feature an image of Hibernia, a line of shields representing the six counties of Northern Ireland and its logo.
On the Back is featured an image of the Old Bushmills Distillery, the same image first used for the 2008 series.
Selective introduction of Polymer Banknotes by the Bank of Ireland:
In 02/2019, the Bank of Ireland introduced a new series of notes printed on polymer substrate. The themes presented on both sides are the same as their paper counterparts, but its banknote size is that of the Bank of England's notes. New polymer £5 and £10 notes were issued, which have replaced the paper notes of the same denomination.
The new polymer notes have retained the iconic Bushmills image and are cleaner, more durable and contain additional security features.
Meanwhile, there have been no changes to the paper £20 and £50 banknotes which are also part of the Bushmills Series, or to the £100 banknote, which is part of the Queen’s University Belfast Series.
This 50 Pounds Banknote was issued by the Bank of Ireland under its 2013 Banknote Series:
On the Front of the 50 Pounds Banknote the following features are included-
- Colour – Purple
- Serial Numbers – font gradually increases in size, at right
- Hologram above vertical serial number and in opposite corner
- Seated lady Hibernia
- Six county shields
- Serial numbers – black horizontal and red vertical
- Date of issue – 1st January 2013
- Signature – S Matchett, Chief Financial Officer UK
On the Back of the 50 Pounds Banknote the features included are -
- Vignette of the Bushmills distillery
The Security features of this Banknote include:
- Feel: Paper Quality – Crisp not waxy
- Raised Print (intaglio) – Bank title, denomination, address and signature
- Watermark – Head of Medusa – right hand side of note beside vertical serial number
- Security Thread – In area of Bank logo when back lit
- See Through – Celtic pattern in watermark area
- Microprinting – ESP on both sides reading Bank of Ireland
- UV/Fluorescence – Phosphorescent barcode blinks in UV light on the front of note. Phosphorescent Bank of Ireland shows in UV light on back of note.
- Move/Tilt - Hologram – Dual image. Denomination overprint on Bank of Ireland logo. Vertical and right switch images show denomination. Left switch shows Bank of Ireland logo.
- Security Thread Tilt – Denomination appears in bottom left hand corner
(The above Banknote is from the collection of my friend Jayant Biswas, who has scanned and sent me the images of the Banknote for this post)
Links: Postage Stamps from the British Isles:
"Tales of the Earth Coin Series": The Second Dinosaurs Collector Coin Series:
Myths & Legends Coin Series:
3) Hylaeosaurus, United Kingdom: Third and final Coin in a three Coin 50 Pence Coin Series titled "Tales of the Earth - Dinosauria", brought out by the Royal Mint, UK in five variants - Gold, Silver (x 2 coins) and Cupro-nickel (x 2 Coins): Date of coin issue: 01.06.2020
Links to some other interesting posts from the British Isles and British Overseas Territories/Dependencies:
Links: Crypto-Currency Stamps & Coin Posts:
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