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The theme of Series C Legal Tender Notes is centred on the formation of modern Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The notes were designed by the Irish artist Robert Ballagh, and the first of them, the £20 note, made its appearance in 1992. The last note to be introduced was the £100, in 1996.
The banknotes continued in circulation until Ireland joined the Eurozone in 2002, whereupon they were replaced by Euro notes.
As early as the mid 1980s, when the final denomination of the Series B banknotes, the £100 note, was still under development, there was already serious consideration by the Central Bank of ireland on the question of a radical size reduction in Ireland's currency notes [CBIAR].
It was also felt that the security of the notes themselves needed improvement and modernisation to bring the currency more into line with that of other European countries.
A limited competition took place in 1991 in which nine prominent Irish artists were invited to submit entries based on the theme. The artist Robert Ballagh won the competition, and all the Series C denominations were designed by him.
The theme centres around important Irish historical people of the 19th and early 20th centuries in Ireland, the era of the formation of modern Ireland.
Listed following are the dates when each of the denominations of the Series C banknotes first entered circulation [CBI].
£20, 6 November 1992.
£10, 17 September 1993.
£5, 15 April 1994.
£50, 3 November 1995.
£100, 13 September 1996.
The first denomination to enter circulation in November 1992 caused a stir within the collector community within a few days when it was noticed that an anomalous BBB replacement note existed, with a date 10.09.92, earlier than the date on the first standard issue note, 21.09.92, which also existed as a BBB replacement note. The Central Bank of Ireland did not acknowledge the existence of the 10.09.92 date.
The scramble was on to find an example of a 10.09.92 in UNC. However, no such examples have been recorded, the highest grade recorded being About EF.
It appears, from observation, that a print run of 60,000 notes was made and it is believed by the Irish collecting community to have been a trial run of some kind, numbered with a replacement prefix so that the notes could be used up in the normal issuing process.
The date, 10.09.92 is also interestingly similar to the first date on Series A banknotes.
Despite being heavily sought-after, examples of the date are quite scarce, and it remains the rarest of the Series C banknotes.
Series C banknotes continued to use the complex prefixing system similar to that first used on Series B banknotes, based on a three letter cypher using the first twelve letters of the Roman alphabet, followed by a six digit number.
Later issues commencing in mid-1997 used the letters M to Z, excluding O and Q. Each prefix was tied to a specific date of issue, making forgery more challenging.
Series C Replacement notes are identified by a prefix of three letters the same, as follows: Five Pound notes - HHH, MMM; Ten Pound notes - JJJ, NNN; Twenty Pound notes - BBB, PPP; Fifty Pound notes - EEE, RRR; One Hundred Pound notes - KKK.
Specimen notes also carry a prefix of three letters the same. For Series C notes, all observed Specimen notes for each denomination carry the replacement note prefix for that denomination. No specimen notes have been seen with later series prefixes taken from the second half of the alphabet.
All denominations bear a similar watermark in the unprinted area of the note, that of a female head incorporating the denomination of the note in numerals, adapted from the portrait of Lady Lavery, by Sir John Lavery, which was used on the A Series A Legal Tender Notes in circulation from 1928 to 1977.
Illustrated below is the watermark used on the £100 note.
From their first introduction, all denominations contain UV fluorescent features. £5, £10, and £20 notes all incorporated an area in right of the face of each note which fluoresces under ultra violet light.
In addition, the ink used to print the date and serial numbers on the bottom left of all denominations fluoresces under UV light.
The £50 and £100 notes have more extensive UV fluorescent areas.
Microprinting is present on the face of all denominations in varying locations, and also on the reverse of £20, 350, and £100 notes.
A ‘stardust’, or ‘windowed security thread’, incorporating the repeated denomination of the note in numerals.
A shield is on the face and reverse of every note, each with different elements of a harp on it, which when held up to the light it lines up precisely with the same feature on the other side of the note to show a complete image of a harp.
A hidden latent image on each note which when tilted at an angle to the light reveals the letters ‘IR’.
Central Bank of Ireland Series C Specimen notes
View by Type - Four Types of Legal Tender Notes by signature and design variation.
View by Denomination - An example of each denomination for every Type.
View by Date - An image of every date of each denomination.
Dimensions are from measurements of actual banknotes. Note: the dimensions tended to vary by a millimetre or so, depending on the cut.
£5 Note, 120 x 64 mm;
£10 Note, 128 x 68 mm; £20 Note, 136 x 72 mm;
£50 Note, 144 x 76 mm; £100 Note, 114 x 203 mm.
Below is a Central Bank of Ireland Documentary on youtube: Robert Ballagh – Designing the C Series Banknotes.
References
The content of this page is based partly on research carried out at the Central Bank of Ireland Archives, Dublin on 24 May 2018.
A. Central Bank of Ireland Publication 'The Design of Irish Banknotes'. Referred to as CBI in the text.
B. Central Bank of Ireland Archives, Dublin. Referred to as CBIAR in the text. [Accessed 24 May 2018].
Specimen images reproduced by curtsey of the Central Bank of Ireland.
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