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Legal Tender Notes, Series A
'Lady Lavery' Irish 50 Pound Notes

Currency Commission Ireland, Central Bank of Ireland, 1928 - 1977

Central Bank of Ireland 50 pounds Currency Commission Ireland 50 pounds

A Modern Irish 50 Pound Note

Irish 50 Pound Legal Tender Notes 1928

The Lady Lavery 50 pound note is the second highest denomination of the Series A Irish Legal Tender Note series which entered circulation on 10 September 1928, the date of issue on all the denominations of the new series of Irish banknotes issued by the Currency Commission.

Similar to the new Legal Tender Irish 100 Pound note, the 50 Pound note had a small printage and circulated in small quantities throughout its lifetime.

Lavery Fifty Pounds 1928 specimen

Central Bank of Ireland Fifty Pounds Specimen

The Irish 50 pound note was in use for 54 years, from 1928 to 1982, with the last date being 4.4.77. It was replaced in November 1982 by the Series B Irish 50 Pound note.

The earlier Lavery 50 Pound notes up to 1960 is the least common denomination of the Series A Irish banknotes. The later dates of the notes are more common. The final date 4.4.77 is easily found in uncirculated condition.

The printage of 1928 Irish 50 pound notes was 10,000, all dated 10.9.28. This was the only printage of Currency Commission Irish Free State 50 Pound notes. The next printage of Irish 50 Pound notes was in 1943, with the first printage of Central Bank of Ireland 50 pound notes, dated 23.3.43. From this date until 1954 a printage of 1,000 notes per date was established for the Legal Tender Irish 50 pound notes.

A few rare dates occur through this printage of Central Bank of Ireland 50 pound notes. Two dates were printed in 1954 and both are seldom offered in any grade.

Irish Lady Lavery Fifty Pound Note Design

The large version of the portrait of Lady Lavery which included the harp she is leaning on was used on the Irish 50 Pound note. The portrait is 66 mm high.

Dimensions of the Lavery 50 pound note are approximately 203 x 114 mm. This was measured on a note dated 10.9.28. Dimensions on Series A Irish banknotes can vary by a couple of millimetres on different notes.

Purple Irish 50 Pound Notes

Purple was chosen as the predominant colour for the new Legal Tender Irish 50 Pound notes. This was printed on a green underprint.

Reverse Design River Masks on the Lavery 50 Pound Note

One of the 'River masks' which are above the windows on the facade of the Custom House in Dublin was selected for the centre of the reverse of the Series A Irish 50 pound note.

On the Lavery 50 Pound note, the mask representing the River Shannon, Ireland's longest river, was used. [1. Moynihan 1975, p. 127].

River Blackwater river mask on 10 shilling note

Left, the engraving of the Shannon river mask used on the Irish 50 Pound note, taken from the original (right) which is found on the facade above one of the windows on the the Custom House in Dublin. [2. Image at right ©Karl Whitney]

Design Variations of the Lavery Fifty Pound Note

Irish 50 Pound notes were printed for each of the six signature variations of the Series A Legal Tender Irish banknotes up to 1977.

Just the first design variation of Currency Commission Irish 50 Pound notes was printed, Type 1, dated 10.9.28. No Irish 50 pound notes were printed with war codes. There was a small printage of Central Bank of Ireland 50 notes in 1943 which were printed without using a war code letter.

Lavery Fifty Pounds 1928

Central Bank of Ireland 50 Pounds 1946. Brennan, Mc Elligott

Central Bank of Ireland Fifty Pounds 1960

World War 2 Irish 50 Pound Notes

One of the major design variations in the Series A Irish Legal Notes was the incorporation of a Special Identification Marking (SIM) or 'War Code' into the design of all denominations of Irish banknotes except 50 and 100 pound notes during the World War 2 Emergency period. As such, there are no Irish 50 pound notes of Type 4 (1940-1942) or Type 5 (1943-1944).

The small printage of Lavery 50 pound notes dated 1943 were printed without war code letters.

Central Bank of Ireland 50 Pounds 1946. Brennan, Mc Elligott

Sterling Promise on Lavery 50 Pound Notes

The bilingual text, in Irish on the right and in English on the left at the bottom of each Irish 50 pound note indicates the link at parity with the British Pound Sterling.
'Fifty Pounds Sterling payable to bearer on demand in London'
'Tá Caoga Punt Sterling iníoctha as an nóta so le n-a shealbhóir ar n-a éilamh san do i Lundain'

Sterling Promise in the bottom panel of every Lady Lavery banknote

1928–1960 The Sterling Promise occupied the bottom panel of every Lady Lavery 50 Pound note

The sterling promise text was removed from the design on all notes printed from 1961 onwards.

Bottom panel of Lavery 10 Shilling note

1962–1977 The Sterling promise was replaced by the denomination 'FIFTY POUNDS' 'CAOGA PUNT' in words on Irish 50 pound notes

Irish Fifty Pound Note Watermarks

The Series A Legal Tender Notes were printed on watermarked paper. Watermarks on each banknote consisted of two elements, the Head of Eirin on the bottom right of each note on all denominations, with an additional watermark in the centre of each denomination which varied on some of the denominations.

The centre watermarks varied on lower denominations. Sometimes they can be difficult to see. On Irish fifty pound notes as well as on the 100 and 20 pound denominations letters the centre watermark consists of the letters LTN denoting Legal Tender Note. this is illustrated below.

The watermarks can be seen on this illustration of a Lavery Fifty Pound note, the letters 'LTN' and the Head of Eirin on the lower right

Lavery Irish 10 shilling note watermark

An illustration of the watermarks on the Irish 50 Pound note

Security Features on Irish 50 Pound Notes

Each denomination of the Series A Irish banknotes was designed with several tiny security features incorporated into the face of every note. These security features took the form of small symbols and asymmetries in the design.

The Irish 50 Pound notes contained three of these security marks, which are illustrated below.

Plate Letters on Lavery 50 Pound Notes
In addition to the security marks each Irish 50 pound note had a tiny Plate Tracer (PT) code, or plate letter printed on the face and reverse. These PT codes were widely used on all Irish banknotes printed by Waterlow and Sons Ltd. The letters marked the position of each banknote on the sheet of printed notes.

The use of PT codes on Irish banknotes was discontinued when De La Rue took over the printing. The last PT code letters were used on Irish 50 pound notes dated in 1960. The location of the PT codes is illustrated below.

Security Features on Irish Ten Shilling Notes

Dates on Legal Tender Irish 50 Pound Notes

There are 48 dates for the Irish Fifty Pound note, from 10.9.28 to 4.4.77. The range of dates includes 13.2.51, a lower than normal printage.

There are several rare dates by printage for the 50 Pound note. Generally, all dates of Irish 50 pound notes prior to 1962 are scarce.

Low Numbers of Irish 50 Pound Notes

The are no known examples of low numbers of 1928 Irish 50 Pound notes. It would have been a very high denomination note to retain.

References

1. Moynihan, Dr. M. 'Currency and Central Banking in Ireland 1922–1960', Gill & Macmillan and The Central Bank of Ireland, 1975.
2. Image ©Karl Whitney. Riverine keystone head at the Custom House, Dublin, rendered in Portland stone by Edward Smyth, portraying one of the rivers of Ireland - in this case, the Blackwater. (Identified by Harold Leask). https://source.southdublinlibraries.ie/handle/10599/5553/simple-search?filterquery=Custom+House&filtername=subject&filtertype=equals [Last accessed 31.10.23].