Catalog
1½ Guineas Bank of Ireland
| Issuer | Bank of Ireland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1802 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Upper left corner bears an oval vignette of Hibernia seated beneath a crown. To the lower left, a rectangular cartouche in letterpress reads 'ONE GUINEA & HALF'. The body of the note carries a manuscript promise-to-pay text with the date and place of issue, countersigned in ink, with serial numbers in manuscript at upper left and upper right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Blank, unprinted. |
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| Comments |
The 1½ Guinea denomination is a direct artifact of Irish monetary convention, where guineas — at 21 shillings each — remained in common reckoning for commercial transactions well after they had faded from everyday English use. A note worth one pound, eleven shillings, and sixpence in sterling terms was practical currency in Dublin's merchant world, not an oddity.
Bank of Ireland was chartered in 1783 and held a statutory monopoly on joint-stock banking in Ireland until 1824. This 1802 note predates the worst of the country's provincial bank failures, which would later drive demand for the chartered bank's paper across much of Leinster.