Banknotes of Northern Ireland

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Banknotes have been issued for use specifically in Northern Ireland since 1929, and are denominated in pounds sterling. Like Scottish banknotes, they are not legal tender anywhere, but they are legal currency throughout the United Kingdom, and normal currency in Northern Ireland. The banknotes are widely accepted as currency by larger merchants and institutions elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Issuing banks have been granted legal rights to issue currency, and back the notes with deposits at the Bank of England.

Contents 1 Issuers 2 Denominations 2.1 Bank of Ireland notes 2.2 First Trust Bank notes 2.3 Northern Bank notes 2.4 Ulster Bank notes 3 See also

[edit] Issuers

Bank of Ireland	1929-
Belfast Banking Company	1929-1968
National Bank	1929-1959
Northern Bank	1929-
Provincial Bank of Ireland	1929-1981
Allied Irish Bank	1982-1993
First Trust Bank	1994-
Ulster Bank	1929-

The Provincial Bank of Ireland was renamed the Allied Irish Bank in 1982, and then became the First Trust Bank in 1994, when AIB merged its Northern Ireland operations with those of TSB.

[edit] Denominations

Notes were initially issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pounds. Of these denominations, only the 1 pound has ceased to be issued, with the last produced by the Allied Irish Bank in 1984.

[edit] Bank of Ireland notes

Main article: Banknotes of the Bank of Ireland (Northern Ireland)

All Bank of Ireland notes feature the Queen's University of Belfast on the obverse. The principal difference between the denominations is their colour and size.

• 5 pound note, blue
• 10 pound note, pink
• 20 pound note, green
• 50 pound note, blue-green.

In April or May 2008, Bank of Ireland plans to issue new designs on the back of their banknotes, depicting Bushmills distillery in Bushmills County Antrim, replacing the image of the Queens University Belfast.

[edit] First Trust Bank notes

First Trust Bank is a subsidiary of the Allied Irish Banks (AIB). It was formed by the 1991 merger of AIB with TSB Northern Ireland. AIB was the successor to the Provincial Bank of Ireland following another merger. The banknotes issued by First Trust Bank continue the series started by the Provincial Bank of Ireland, also issued by AIB.

First Trust Bank's current notes depict two generic people, one male, one female. They appear as children on the £1 and £5 notes, as middle-aged on the £10 and £20, and finally as elderly on the £50 and £100. The obverse generally features designs associated with the Spanish Armada, or coastal features.

• 10 pound note featuring the vessel Girona (galleass) on the obverse
• 20 pound note featuring the chimney at Lacada Point on the obverse
• 50 pound note featuring a commemorative medal on the obverse
• 100 pound note featuring the Armada on the obverse

A £5 note featuring Dunluce Castle on the obverse and a £1 note also featuring the Girona were issued by the Provincial Bank of Ireland and by AIB, but have not been issued by First Trust Bank.

[edit] Northern Bank notes

A £20 Northern Bank note (this version was withdrawn in 2005).
A current £20 Northern Bank note.

• 5 pound polymer note featuring the U.S. space shuttle
• 10 pound note featuring J. B. Dunlop on the front and the portico of Belfast's city hall on the back
• 20 pound note featuring Harry Ferguson on the front and the portico of Belfast City Hall on the back
• 50 pound note featuring Sir S.C. Davidson on the front and the portico of Belfast City Hall on the back
• 100 pound note featuring Sir James Martin on the front and the portico of Belfast City Hall on the back

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK to have issued a plastic banknote. This is the Northern Bank's Year 2000 commemorative £5 banknote, which was printed in Australia.

Following the theft of £22 million from its money handling centre in Belfast on 22 December 2004, allegedly by the Provisional IRA, Northern Bank announced on 7 January 2005 that all its notes were to be recalled and reissued in different colours and styles, and using the bank's new logo. The reissue began on 14 March 2005 and was scheduled to take one month; old notes remain exchangeable at branches of Northern Bank. See Northern Bank robbery.

The principal colours of Northern Bank notes of greater than £5 face value were changed with the 2005 reissue, and are now (former colour in brackets):

• £10 green (brown)
• £20 blue (purple)
• £50 purple (green)
• £100 red (black)

The logo displayed on these new notes is now itself out of date. The current logo is taken from Northern's new parent company, Danske Bank.

[edit] Ulster Bank notes

Ulster Bank's current notes all share a rather plain design of a view of Belfast harbour flanked by landscape views; the design of the reverse is dominated by the bank's coats-of-arms. The principal difference between the denominations is their colour and size. Notes issued from January 1st 2007 feature the bank's new logo, similar to the Royal Bank of Scotland Group logo. It appears beside the bank's name, which appears in a different typeface, and in the place of the NatWest chevron foil device.

• 5 pound note, grey.
• 10 pound note, blue-green.
• 20 pound note, purple.
• 50 pound note, blue.

In November 2006 Ulster Bank issued its first commemorative banknote - an issue of one million £5 notes commemorating the first anniversary of the death of Northern Irish footballer, George Best. This was the first Ulster Bank banknote to incorporate their new logo, similar to the logo of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and the entire issue was taken by collectors within hours of becoming available in bank branches.

[edit] See also

• Banknotes of the pound sterling
• Banknotes of Ireland

v • d • e Banknotes of the pound sterling    England and Wales Bank of England Scotland Bank of Scotland · The Royal Bank of Scotland · Clydesdale Bank Northern Ireland Bank of Ireland · First Trust Bank · Northern Bank  · Ulster Bank British Crown Dependencies Guernsey pound · Jersey pound · Manx pound British overseas territories (at parity with Sterling) Gibraltar pound · Falkland Islands pound · Saint Helena pound See also Pound sterling · Coins of the pound sterling · Economy of the United Kingdom  · Sterling Area