This page lists links to banknote resources and relevant numismatic related web pages. All of the reference links used throughout irishpapermoney.com are listed on this page. Additionally, other interesting links are also listed here.
Offiste links to the worldwideweb. Last updated 06.08.2023
Links on this page are checked frequently for broken and dead links.
Several long-time websites have dissappeared, and the links have been removed, leaving the subject line and a note that a link is sought for the resource. Answers on an e-card on the forum please!
While it is used on the Discussion Forum, Wikipedia is a poor and inaccurate source of reference for Irish currency and is not used as a reference anywhere on the main website.
Irish Coinage is the web's definitive site on over a thousand years of the coinage of Ireland. Information about Irish coins for numismatists, collectors, archaeologists and others who have an interest in the currency in use in Ireland from earliest times to the present day. Includes high quality images of many scarcer coins of Ireland.
Irish Tokens of the 19th and 20th Century lists all the tokens issued in Ireland, with images where available.
Founded in 1961, The Numismatic Society of Ireland is committed to the study of coins, tokens, banknotes, medals and other artefacts relating to numismatics, and especially Irish numismatics.
Background to the shortage of silver coinage in Ireland in the late 1700s. • DEAD LINK - Replacement resource sought
The Ulster Historical Foundation website's brief on Banks and money in Ireland in the 1730s presents the background to the story of banking in Ireland before large joint stock banks were permitted.
Some background to bankers and banking in Victorian Dublin.
A snippet on the Irish Joint-Stock banks note circulation 1910, which came up in Parliament. Incidentally, the information was provided by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, one Mr David Lloyd George, who went on to become Prime Minister during the Irish Treaty negotiations.
Decimalisation in Britain in 1971 necessitated a similar change to decimal currency in Ireland. Decimal Day was on 15 February 1971.
Kelly, J. The Irish Pound: From Origins to EMU. The Central Bank of Ireland, 2003. A paper on the 75 year history of the Irish Pound from 1927 to the changeover to the Euro in 2002.
Ireland joined the EEC in 1973, participated in Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1988, joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) on 13 March 1979, which was the first step to the introduction of the Euro. This lead to the breaking of the Irish Pound's link to Sterling. Ireland went on to be a founder member of the Eurozone.
With effect from 00.00 am local time on 1 January 1999, the conversion rate between the Euro and the Irish pound was fixed at 1 Euro = IEP 0.787564. Euro - Irish Pound Calculator.
Some introductory remarks by Governor Patrick Honohan at the T.K. Whitaker Lecture 2013 on the role of the Central Bank of Ireland.
A brief history of the Central Bank of Ireland. A Series, B Series and C Series notes pages on the Central Bank of Ireland website.
Farewell to the Irish Pound. A History Ireland article on the passing of the Irish currency in 2002.
Barrow, G. L. (1975). The Emergence of the Irish Banking System 1820–1845, Gill & Macmillan.
Blake, R., Callaway, J. (2009). "Papermoney of Ireland".
Boyle G.E. and Geary P.T., The Irish Currency Report of 1804 paper examining, amongst other things, the state of circulating paper money in Ireland. The original text of the 1804 report can be found on Achive.org: https://archive.org/details/op1244312-1001
Day, R. "Silver notes in the County Cork", Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 1895, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 33-34. Digital file created: November 24, 2013.
Gilbart, J. W. The history of Banking in Ireland, 1804, Longman, 1836. A good resource for a background history on the Irish Private banks.
Hall, F. G. (1949). The Bank of Ireland, 1783-1946. Dublin: Hodges, Figgis and Company.
Kenny, S., Turner, J. D. (2019). "Wildcat bankers or political failure? The Irish financial pantomime, 1797–1826", European Review of Economic History 24(4).
McGowan, P. "Money and Banking in Ireland, Origins Development and Future".
Newby, E. (2007). "The Suspension of Cash Payments as a Monetary Regime", University of St Andrews. A study on the suspension of cash payments in 1797 whereby the requirement of the Bank of England to pay specie (gold and silver) on its bank notes was suspended, due to a shortage of gold and silver as a result of the Napoleonic wars draining value out of the economy.
O’Brien, N, "The Road to an Irish national bank".
Ó Gráda, C. (2001). "Should the Munster Bank have been saved?", Dept. Economics, University College Dublin, Working Paper Article.
O’Kelly, E. (1959). "The Old Private Banks and Bankers of Munster". Cork: Cork University Press.
Ollerenshaw, P. (1987). "Banking in Nineteenth Century Ireland". Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Tenison, C. M. (1893-1895). "The Old Dublin Bankers." Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, No. 2-3.
Tenison, C. M. (1892, 1893). "The Private Bankers of Cork and the South of Ireland". Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, No. 1-2.
Walsh, P. (2014). 'The South Sea Bubble and Ireland: Money, Banking and Investment, 1690-1721'. Boydell Press, Woodbridge, UK.
Young, D. (1968-1986). Irish Numismatics Magazine.
Links to legislation relevant to Irish banking and currency which have been referred to on irishpapermoney.com.
Bank of Ireland Act, 1821, an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Bank Charter Act restricted the note issuing powers of banks in Britain, and gave the Bank of England the sole power of note issue in England.
A brief on the Assimilation of Currencies Act, 1825 which was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which provided for the abolition of the Irish Pound as a separate currency, which floated with variable exchange rates, and its joining with the English Pound Sterling.
Bank Charter Act, 1844, an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Bank Charter Act restricted the note issuing powers of banks in Britain, and gave the Bank of England the sole power of note issue in England.
The Bankers (Ireland) Act, 1845, an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was an Act to regulate the Issue of Bank Notes in Ireland, which prohibited the right of note issue for any newly formed bank in Ireland.
Irish issued bankotes were made Legal Tender in Ireland by the Currency and Banknotes Act, 1914. The act stipulated that a bank could not make payment on its notes using its own notes at its head office—presumably it could make payment in notes of any of the other banks. Legal Tender status was withdrawn on January 1, 1920.
Banknotes (Ireland) Act 1920 removed the obligation of Irish banks to pay their notes on demand at any branch other than the head office. It lead to the removal of all the branch names on very note, to be replaced with just Dublin or Belfast as offices of payment.
The Irish Currency Act 1927 provided for the creation of the Irish Legal Tender Notes in the Irish Free State, and the withdrawal of the banknote issues of the joint stock banks circulating within the jurisdiction of the state to be replaced by the Consolidated Bank Note issue. The Act also established the Currency Commission Ireland.
The Bankers (Northern Ireland) Act, 1928 resulted directly from the Irish 1927 Currency Act and set limits for the joint stock commercial banks' note issues in Northern Ireland.
King Henry II of England.
The Norman invasion and conquest of England 1066-1087 eventually lead to the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland in 1169, a historical background presented by the BBC.
Brief on the Reformation in Europe and a cross-linked history of the Reformation.
The Down Survey of Ireland. Taken in the years 1656-1658, the Down Survey of Ireland is the first ever detailed land survey on a national scale anywhere in the world.
The Battle of the Boyne in 1690, was one of the most important events in Irish history. On 1 July 1690 the Battle of the Boyne was fought between King William III (William of Orange) and King James II, who were both claimants to the English, Irish and Scottish thrones.
History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800.
Society and economy in Ireland 1815-1870
Background to the Westminster Parliament in London. Ireland was ruled directly from Westminster from 1801 to 1921.
The Act of Union 1801 which provided for the abolition of the Parliament of Ireland and the integration of the country into the United Kingdom.
A record of how elected members voted on the Act of Union 1799, 1800.
The Government of Ireland Act, 1920 provided for the establishment of the Parliament of Southern Ireland (granting Home Rule to the 26 counties which later became the Republic of Ireland), the Parliament of Northern Ireland, and a Council of Ireland. The Parliament of Southern Ireland, which never came into being as the Nationalist members declared independence instead, proclaiming the first Dáil on 21 January 1919.
National Library of Ireland: 1916 Rising and Perspectives.
The Sinn Féin 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland which eventually lead to independence for the 26 counties that became the Republic of Ireland.
The BBC history website has a very informative overview on the Easter 1916 Rising.
Background to Home Rule in Ireland from the BBC.
Results of the Irish General election 1918, which for many nationalists had become a referendum on independence.
Article on the Limerick Soviet with some good references, from a left-wing orientated website.
A (2012) review of the Limerick Soviet.
Cahill, L. (2019) Forgotten Revolution: The Limerick Soviet of April 1919. Notes for an illustrated talk at the Granary Library, Limerick, 10th April 2019. [Last accessed 18.10.21].
KEMMY, J. (1976). The Limerick Soviet. Saothar, 2, 45–52. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23195163 [Last accessed 18.10.21].
Limerick Soviet also called 'The General Strike, 1919' Limerick City Library Archive [Last accessed 18.10.21].
Smyth P. (2019). When Limerick workers seized the city – for two weeks. The Irish Times, Jan 21, 2019. [Last accessed 18.10.21].
Dáil Eireann, the Parliament of the Republic of Ireland.
26-county Irish Free State and the 6-county Northern Ireland, two autonomous regions created from the island of Ireland as a result of the Partition of Ireland on 3 May 1921.
Irish Free State becomes Éire, Ireland, and then the Republic of Ireland.
Results of the Irish election 1921 in Northern Ireland.
Results of the General Election of 24 May 1921 for the entire country.
A brief on the truce in the Irish War of independence.
Constitution of Irish Free State.
A brief on the Irish Civil war 1922-1923, with a detailed account of the conventional phase of the conflict.
What is meant by Dominion status in the British Empire.
The World War 2 period was termed The Emergency in Ireland coming from the Emergency Powers Act, which was in force during the war years. Ireland was neutral during the war, though disposed towards the Allies.
History Hub UCD for historical background information on Ireland - www.historyhub.ie
The Custom House, Dublin is featured on the reverse of the Ploughman One Pound note. Also, the river masks on the reverse of the Lavery notes are taken from features on the Custom House.
Portrait of Lady Lavery as Kathleen Ni Houlihan, 1928, at the National Gallery of Ireland. This is the portrait of Hazel Lavery which was used as the model for the design of the Lady Lavery banknotes.
Sir John Lavery, 1856-1941, painter of the original portrait on which the A Series Legal Tender Note portrait design is based.
John Claudius Beresford (1766-1846), Dublin politician, Member of Parliament and banker.
Ernest Blythe was the first finance minister in the Irish Free State.
Daniel O'Connell was one of the founders of the National Bank of Ireland. O'Connell was also a member of Parliament in Westminster.
Joseph Brennan, Chairman of the Currency Commission Ireland and Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, signatory on Irish banknotes 1928-1953.
J. J. McEligott, Secretary of the Department of Finance, and signatory as Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland 1954-1960, he also served in the GPO during the 1916 Rising.
Thomas Joplin, one for the founders of the Provincial Bank of Ireland which had its head office in London. Joplin was also one of the founders of the National Provincial Bank in England, a precursor of Natwest.
Dr T. K. Whitaker was a signatory of Irish Legal Tender Notes across two series. He signed as secretary of the Department of Finance from 1956 to 1968, and as Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland from 1969 to 1976. His signature appears on the first date of the B Series £5 notes, as well as on the earlier A Series Lavery notes. He was one of Ireland’s foremost economists.
Hibernia representative of Ireland.
In the eighteenth century Edward Smith sculpted the River Masks which adorn the facade of the Custom House, Dublin. Some of these masks were used as a central feature of the reverse of the design of the Legal Tender Notes (A Series 1928–1977), and on the reverse of the C Series £10 note (1992–1999).
The following are web sites which contain free access on-line displays of paper money (Educational and Government establishments first, then alphabetical).
National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian, National Museum of American History. Since they redesigned their website, it has become difficult to find the banknotes! Museums have a habit of doing this, it appears.
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco American Currency Exhibit.
Early US papermoney. The art of north Carolina money.
University of North Carolina Library's Numismatic Collection.
Cornell's Coin Collection an on-line exhibition of Cornell University's coin collection.
UCD collection of Roman coins.
Department of Coins and Medals at The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.
University of Notre Dame Library Web site for the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections in the Hesburgh Library, University of Notre Dame, Indiana. It contains a section on early Irish Stamps and Colonial Currency banknotes of the USA. There are also images of early US Coins and Confederate Banknotes, though the banknotes are currently very large files. A site very well worth a visit.
Stampsmarter philatelic learning exhibit of Irish definitive postage stamps 1922-1966.
A note on the world's first government-issued paper currency, starting in the Song Dynasty in China in the 1120s, and an illustration of a banknote of the Ming Dynasty, dating from 1375.
Physicists on banknotes. Images of banknotes featuring portraits of famous physicists, with links to information on their discoveries. Banknotes featuring scientists and mathematicians.
British banknotes, including Treasury notes and Bank of England issues. • DEAD LINK - Replacement resource sought
Austrian banknotes. Images of all issues of Austrian notes.
Bank for International Settlements maintains links to Central bank and monetary authority websites. A good place to find that elusive Issuing Authority you are looking for.
Czech banknotes.
Euro. The first euros: The creation and issue of the first euro banknotes and the road to the Europa series, a pdf book download which covers the story of the Euro banknotes from the start of the project up to the introduction of the second series. It is available from the Bank of Finland website, and is also in Finnish: Ensimmäiset eurot: Eurosetelisarjan synty, liikkeeseenlasku ja ensi vuosikymmen. There are lots of illustrations. Well worth a read for those who are interested in the story of the Euro.
French West Africa banknotes
French banknotes. Site language is English. French government banknotes covered by major type. It also covers French overseas departments and colonies, as well as post-colonial issues of some former colonies.
French and French colonial Banknotes and coins, African colonial notes.
French Assignats. A website dedicated to the paper money issued by the National Assembly in France during the French Revolution. Assignats: currency from the French Revolution 1789–1796.
French banknotes of war. French occupation and military related banknote issues.
Finland. Books on Finnish banknotes and the Bank of Finland for download from the Bank of Finland website.
Viimeiset markat – Suomen markkamääräiset setelityypit 1945–2002 (The last Banknotes of Finland)
This book is in Finnish with lots of illustrations. The book covers the design, development and printing of Finnish banknotes from 1945 up to the Euro. This is a pdf download of a 350 page book, well worth a look.
200 years of the Bank of Finland. The downloads are pdf versions of actual books, and contain illustrations of some banknotes.
Part 1. 1811-1938
English: Bank of Finland 200 years I: Imperial cashier to central bank
Suomi: Suomen Pankki 200 vuotta I: Keisarin kassasta keskuspankiksi
Part 2. 1939-1990
English: Bank of Finland 200 years II: Parliament's bank
Suomi: Suomen Pankki 200 vuotta II: Parlamentin pankki
A free to view Catalogue and reference of Finnish Banknotes, Coins and Postage Stamps with valuations and production quantities.
German banknotes from 1871. • DEAD LINK - Replacement resource sought
German Colonial paper money. In German, this site covers banknote issues in German colonies.
Banknotes of British India. A large site with a good section on banknotes.
Lebanese banknotes. • DEAD LINK - Replacement resource sought
New Zealand national currency website with background information and pictures of NZ banknotes.
Numista, a free to view catalogue of world coins and banknotes, which is maintained and grown by its membership. Membership is open to all. This website is by far the best numismatic site of its kind.
Romanian banknotes. • DEAD LINK - Replacement resource sought
Images of current Scottish banknotes can be found on the Committee of Scottish Bankers' website.
Swedish setelit.
Syrian banknotes. • DEAD LINK - Replacement resource sought
Tanzania Currency presents a page on East Africa bankotes, both German and British. Tanzania's modern currency notes are also pictured.
www.uspapermoney.info US Paper Money web site which goes into detail on the design background and features on modern small sized United States banknotes from 1928.
The History of Florida Currency covers all the banknote issues in the US State of Florida, with images of many notes.
Vietnam and French Indochina coins and banknotes. This web site has been around for a long time, internetly speaking, and presents some good images of early notes.
South Georgia Whaler's Tokens.
A brief history of Northern Ireland.
Bank of Ireland is amongst the world's oldest banks still in operation.
The Belfast Commercial Bank, a precursor of the Belfast Banking Company.
Bank of Ireland notes, current Northern Ireland issue.
Some background information on Irish note issuing banks:
Bank of Ireland, history.
Danske Bank took over Northern Bank and issues notes in Northern Ireland.
Background information on Bank of Ireland.
Background information on Ulster Bank.
Some background history on AIB, formerly Provincial Bank of Ireland and an issuer of notes in Northern Ireland as First Trust Bank up until 2022.
Midland Bank was the parent bank of Northern bank. This was reflected in the new modern 1970 banknote issue of the Northern which bore the Griffin and Guineas logo of the Midland on the reverse of each denomination.
A list of non-Irish related links to other resources on coins and banknotes.
The E-Sylum, Numismatic bibliomania Society newsletter.
What is Legal Tender anyway?
Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve System in the US came into being in 1913, and was the template for the creation of the Consolidated Bank Note issue in Ireland in 1929.
1914-1921. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Treasury notes notes circulated in Ireland along with Irish banknotes, replacing gold coin in circulation.
Background to Bank of England notes, and an official Withdrawn banknotes Reference Guide to its banknotes since 1694.
A short history of the Pound Sterling from the BBC.
British Celtic Coin Index. A repository of Celtic coins found in the UK.
A History of the Canadian Dollar (PDF), Publications du gouvernement du Canada.
The Currency Collector. Articles and papers on banknotes by John E. Sandrock.
Guinea denominations were issued by Irish banks up to the early 1800s.
Parsonstown had had its name changed from Birr in 1620. In 1899 the name was changed back to Birr. It is a large prosperous town in the middle of Ireland. The National Bank, and the Provincial Bank both had branches in Parsonstown before and after the town's name was changed back to Birr. Thus, on the banknotes of these two banks Parsonstown is replaced by Birr in the list of branches from around 1900 onwards.
Thomas De La Rue and Waterlow and Sons, were both onetime printers of Irish banknotes.
The Ledo Road, from Ledo, Arunachal Pradesh, India to Kunming, Yunnan, China, was built during World War II so that the Western Allies could supply the Chinese as an alternative to the Burma Road which had been cut by the Japanese in 1942.
Mercury heads were a central feature on Bank of Ireland notes from 1838.
Metallic security threads were first introduced to lower denominations of Irish banknotes in 1971: £1, £5, £10.
A note on the world's first government-issued paper currency, dating from 1375. Banknotes of the Ming Dynasty in China.
A History of Money by Glyn Davies.
A discussion on the costs and benefits of phasing out paper currency.
Early Scottish banking was a template for the evolution of Irish banking.
Will Cuba’s Unified Currency Lead to Economic Turmoil?
During WW2 the Allies issued Military Currency for a while in liberated and occupied countries.
Anglo-Saxon Coinage.
Central Bank of Ireland: The official web site of The Central Bank of Ireland.
European Central Bank • The Bank of England
Information on the Euro currency which replaced the Irish currency in 2002 at a fixed exchange rate of £0.787564 equal to 1 Euro.
The copyright of Irish government banknotes belongs to the Irish Government.
Bank of Finland - Banque de France - Belgique - Banco de Espania - Banca d'Italia - Banque centrale du Luxembourg - De Nederlandsche Bank - Deutsche Bundesbank - Banco de Portugal - Austria - Greece - Malta
Danmark - Sverige - Polska - Estonia - Latvia - Lithuania - Czech Republic - Slovakia - Hungary - Slovenia
Japan - Reserve Bank of Australia - Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Israel - Switzerland - Bank of Canada - East Caribbean Central Bank
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) are the printers of the paper money of the United States of America.
X-rates, a user friendly graphical web site of currency Exchange Rates.
Visit and Explore Ireland!
News from Ireland.
Pair Networks, the ISP on which this web site is hosted.
If you know of any other non-commercial free access stable web sites featuring banknotes please post them on the Irish Papermoney Forum, and they will be included here. Websites come and go all the time. There used to be several other good websites on bankotes, including a top class site on US papermoney, but they have ceased operation.
This links page is always being added to..., thus the gratuitous graphic below!
www.irishpapermoney.com Version 3.0.3 Copyright ©2000 - 2023, M Mac Devitt.
