LONDON.- Three important Irish Banknotes far exceeded expectations when they were sold by Dix Noonan Webb in their auction of British, Irish and World Banknotes on Thursday, February 24, 2022 at their Mayfair saleroom (16 Bolton Street, London W1J 8BQ).

The highest price was achieved by an extremely rare £100 from the Irish Free State dating from September 10, 1928. The note is in a near-perfect mint condition and sold for a remarkable £39,680* against an estimate of £12,000-16,000 [Lot 431]. Two specimen Bank of Ireland Ploughman notes: a £50 and a £100, both dating from around 1929, each sold for £32,240. Neither of these had appeared in auction for decades and had been expected to fetch £5,000-6,000 each [Lots 410 & 411].

The three notes were part of the John Geraghty Collection and were all bought by an overseas collector with an interest in rare notes from all countries. The superb collection had been put together by the late John Geraghty and his son Sean, and comprised 54 lots which fetched £183,656.

Following the sale, Andrew Pattison, Head of Banknote Department at Dix Noonan Webb, noted: “These are amongst the rarest and most beautiful of the 20th century Irish series, so it is easy to see why they exceeded their estimates by such a degree.”

Also in the sale was Part two of the Gus Mac Amhlaigh Collection of Irish Paper Money which included 112 lots and sold for £51,367.

Elsewhere in the sale a rare and iconic 100 Dinar note from the Government of Iraq, dating from 1942 sold for £29,760 against an estimate of £10,000-15,000 and was bought by a committed and advanced collector of Iraqi notes and coins [lot 636]. While an extremely rare 500 Riyal note from the Qatar Monetary Agency, sold for £17,360 against an estimate of £8,000-£12,000 and was purchased by a collector in the Middle East [lot 784].

As Mr. Pattison commented: “These two notes were part of the Gemini Collection - a fabulous group of notes put together several decades ago. Iraqi notes of all kinds are currently selling for records sums of money and this is among the rarest. However the note from Qatar was originally acquired from circulation in the 1970s! The price achieved shows a truly monumental increase in value.”