...Northern Ireland, Ulster Bank Limited - £20 And ₤50 Both Dated 2021 Polymer Note

Tuaisceart Éireann

(Northern Ireland)

Ulster Bank Limited, (Est.1836)
Currency : Pound Sterling (GBP)

 

On 01.08.2022, I posted the Ulster Bank ₤50 polymer note issued with the date of 01.03.2021. This ₤50 note was made available to the public on 15.06.2022. In late December 2022, it was reported that the bank has released a new ₤20 was also released and the note is printed with the date of 02.12.2021. Here I have added this ₤20 to my post.

I am a bit surprised to see two notes of the same denomination printed with the same year date. The previous ₤20 issued was dated 01.03.2021 and bears the signature of Katie Murray.

 

The 50 pounds polymer banknote was issued on 15.06.2022. The bank had traditionally issued banknotes of 50 and 100 pounds, and it is not surprising that this new 50 pounds is issued. Whether we will get to see a new ₤100 in the future, time will tell.

 

As expected, the design for this new ₤50 series is completely new. Like the previous polymer banknotes first released in 2018, the front and the back are in a vertical format. This note is issued to honour Northern Ireland born, astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell.

 

The announcement for this ₤50 note was made on 08.03.2022, coinciding with the International Women’s Day and the note was released to the public on 15.06.2022. It appears that only two prefixes have been sighted so far, AA and AB prefixes.

 

Alison Rose is currently the CEO of Natwest Group plc, which also owns The Royal Bank of Scotland. For this, her signature also appears on the current banknotes of The Royal Bank of Scotland. There are not many banknotes that have been issued by different issuing authorities with the same signature. The other person that had the same opportunity that I can think of was Ross Maxwell McEwan, who was also then the CEO of the Natwest group before he resigned in 2019. Ross Maxwell McEwan went on and joined the National Bank of Australia as the CEO and he retired in April 2024.

Twenty Pounds

Signature - Dame Alison Marie Rose-Slade* (tenure - 01.11.2019 to 26.07.2023)

Substrate - Polymer (De La Rue)

Date: Belfast, 2 December 2021

Dimensions: 74mm x 139.5mm

 

Front - On the front it features the Hawthorne flower and a transparent outline of Lough Neagh. On top of the note, it also features three Northern Ireland eels. As Ulster Bank is owned by the NatWest Group, the Group log, the Daisy Wheel is also printed on the top right where the transparent window is located.

It should be noted that the Daisy Wheel logo was first used in the 1971 series of banknotes issued by The Royal Bank of Scotland. The Royal Bank of Scotland acquired National Westminster Bank along with its subsidiaries (including Ulster Bank) in 2000 and the Daisy Wheel logo for the group was not printed on any of the Ulster Bank's banknotes until in 2006 when the bank issued the George Best ₤5 commemorative series.

 

This note also incorporates Derry~Londonderry’s Halloween celebrations into the security features and if viewed under a UV light, one can see the skeletons and Leisler’s bat, which is the largest bat you can find in the whole of Ireland. Here I have posted this note with the prefix of BP. I have been informed that the first prefix for this series is BP.

 

(Note"- She resigned from the NatWest Group as CEO after it was reported that one of the subsidiary banks, Coutts & Co closed off an account of a UK politician without the approval of the account holder. She took full responsibility for the bank's action, even though she played no part in the action taken by Coutts & Co. She has since been replaced as CEO by Paul Thwaite).

Back - The theme for this new £20 Ulster Bank polymer banknote is ‘Living in Nature’ and focuses on Northern Ireland as a ‘dwelling place’. It features street entertainers and their appreciative audience as shown on the back of the note. In addition to these, it also features tiles, brickwork and patterns inspired by Northern Ireland’s ubiquitous red-brick tenement buildings. Other elements of the note are drawn from the ornate decoration found on and in famous public buildings, corporate architecture and domestic homes in Derry, Belfast and other cities in Northern Ireland.

 

 

 

Fifty Pounds

 

Signature - Dame Alison Marie Rose-Slade (tenure - 01.11.2019 to 26.07.2023)

Substrate - Polymer (De La Rue)

Date: Belfast, 1 March 2021

Dimensions: 146mm x 77mm

 

Front - On the front, the main feature is the gorse flower found in Northern Ireland. The horse's thorny spines make it a haven for many wildlife. On the top (front and back) is the image of a pine marten, a cryptic wood butterfly on the bottom. On top of the note is Lough Foyle, situated north of Northern Ireland, sharing a border with the Republic of Ireland. The area surrounding Lough Foyle is famous for flora and fauna in general.

 

Back - Astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell. In 1967, she was credited for the discovery of radio pulsars. The discovery eventually earned the Nobel prize in Physics in 1974', but she was not the one of the prize's recipients. The award went to her supervisor, Antony Hewish instead. Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was born in 1943, and at the time of her discovery, she was only 24 years old as a research student. The design depicts Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell conducting one of her experiences. On the background of the note, it also portrays "Millies" working at the loom, as a homage to the unsung heroes of Northern Ireland's great linen industry. Also printed on the background are images of Northern Ireland's ship building and aviation industries (a drawing of part of a 'flying boat' or fixed-winged seaplane).