Limerick Soviet notes sell for thousands of sterling at auction

THREE Limerick Soviet notes sold at auction in England for over £10,000.

Money printed by The Workers of Limerick in 1919 was brought to the market by Noonans of Mayfair in London. The three lots made up of one shilling, five shilling and 10 shillings were all guided at between £2,000 and £2,600.

Andrew Pattison, head of the bank note department at Noonans, said the historic legal tender was sold by a collector of Irish notes.

“The notes themselves really are exceptionally rare. We know that although thousands were printed, only around 200-400 of each denomination were issued, so there weren’t very many to begin with.

“The vast majority of these were redeemed (paid in), leaving only around 30 examples in private hands today. With most of these firmly in collections, this was a highly unusual opportunity to acquire a complete set,” said Mr Pattison.

While there may be interest close to Limerick, the major bidders for such materials are often international, he said.

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Mr Pattinson was on the money, so to speak, as they were not bought by Limerick or Irish buyers.

The one shilling note sold for £4,000, the five shilling for £4,200 - vastly over the guide prices. The 10 shilling note made £2,800.

“The level of interest in these notes was very high, as you would expect for items with such an evocative story, and genuine rarity. While there were several bidders from the UK and Ireland, all three notes were purchased by buyers abroad, with one going to America and two going to Europe,” said Mr Pattinson, who encouraged Limerick people to have a look in the dusty box of collectibles in the attic.

“These notes are obviously extremely rare, but there are still several examples unaccounted for in the records, so it is just possible that anyone could have one in their drawers or attics! Many older banknotes are now worth far more to collectors than they once were, so it is always worth checking with an expert,” said Mr Pattinson.

The reason the 10 shilling made over £1,000 less than the one and five shilling notes is because it is much more common.

Dr Paul O’Brien, Mary Immaculate lecturer, historian and Limerick Leader columnist, said it showed the workers’ determination in their cause that they issued their own bank notes.

“The notes themselves could be viewed as another means in which to get their message out as they had the following inscription ‘General Strike against British Militarism 1919’ and on the face it had ‘The Workers of Limerick Promise to Pay the bearer the sum of __ shillings’,” said Dr O’Brien, who had hoped they would be acquired for the city.