1 Guinea Bank of Ireland

The guinea denomination — 21 shillings rather than a round pound — was a commercial convention inherited from the gold guinea coin, which had ceased production in 1799. Bank of Ireland notes in this denomination were used primarily in professional and mercantile settlements, where pricing in guineas remained customary well into the nineteenth century. The denomination was phased out as decimal reckoning gradually displaced it.

1803 falls squarely within the post-Act of Union period, when the Bank of Ireland had just secured its position as the dominant note-issuing institution on the island following the 1800 merger of the Irish and British parliaments. Surviving examples from this early series are rare; bank note retention was poor in Ireland during this period, and institutional destruction of redeemed notes was thorough.