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20 Pounds
| Issuer | Central Bank of Ireland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943-1944 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Waterlow & Sons Limited, United Kingdom (1810-1961) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in deep red on a pale ground and centres on an intaglio vignette of a bearded river-god — the allegorical spirit of the River Boyne — enclosed within a cartouche of fine lathe-work. Denomination numerals '20' appear to either side of the central vignette, flanked by elaborate guilloche rosettes and an outer border of Celtic-inspired knotwork and shamrock ornaments at the corners. |
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| Protection description | Watermark visible when held to light |
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| Comments |
Ireland's wartime currency situation was complicated by the country's neutrality and its continuing peg to sterling — the Irish pound remained at exact parity with the British pound throughout the Emergency, as the war years were officially called. That parity made high-denomination notes like this one largely instruments of banking and commercial settlement rather than everyday exchange; the average Irish wage in 1943 made a twenty-pound note an extraordinary sum.
Waterlow & Sons printed the series from London throughout the war years despite the obvious logistical friction of supplying a neutral state from a city under periodic air attack. The P#5D designation places this within the long-running Ploughman series, which the Central Bank had inherited from its predecessor and continued issuing with minimal modification well into the 1940s.