I have an 10 dollar Irish Republic Bond that was purchased by my great-great grand grandfather in 1866. I've posted some pics of it in this message. Would anyone happen to know if it has any value? I don't plan on selling it ever for sentimental reasons, but I'd like to know if it has any monetary worth. I've read a bit about them on the internet and apparently they were sold to finance mini-wars by Civil War vets into Canada in order to try and force England to give up Ireland. Is this true? Thanks.
Irish Republic note. Sofrosune,this is listed in Pick's Specialised catalogue as a banknote.This is of interest to British Commonwealth banknote collectors such as myself.The 1866 ones were issued by the Irish Republican Brotherhood,which were also better known as the Fenians.They led raids into Canada in 1866 & 1870.The 1919 issue,which is rarer were issued by Sinn Fein/I.R.A. as a way of raising funds to buy weapons.Irishmen fought on both sides in the American Civil War. Aidan.
most fenian notes were signed by the leader, john o'mahoney, but the signature on your note looks like michael scanlan. if that signature belongs to the same michael scanlan that wrote these: http://celtic-lyrics.com/artists/98 the bond might be worth quite a bit for the autograph on top of its numismatic value. here's a repro print of an o'mahoney 1866 bond: http://www.fighting69th.com/images/certif.jpg
They did indeed, but overwhelmingly on the northern side. The Southern aristocracy tended to be pro-British and the British aristocracy was pro-Southern. Because most Irish in America in the early 1860s had left Ireland because of London's poor response to the Great Famine of the 1840s, the Irish-American community hated the British, and anything associated with them. Which led to easy recruitment of the Irish into northern armies. And Irish immigrants were in also overwhelmingly in the north. The history sofrosune offers to the production of the note is correct. To expand it a bit, Irish veterans of the US Civil War tried to "invade" Canada to force a war between the United States and the British Empire. Because the US had so many combat veterans, it was thought that such a war would force the British to strip other colonies - Ireland especially - of troops. Leaving the opportunity open for a successful revolution in Ireland. The plan came to nothing because cooler heads in London and Washington knew what was coming (these Irish-American groups leaked secrets like a sieve), and weren't about to let a war be caused by a few hundred Irish extremists. It was, however, part of the reason the Dominion of Canada was created in 1867, and why the capital was placed inland at Ottawa, rather than in the largest city (but located near the border) of Toronto. But, honestly, at this time, Whitehall was more concerned with Italian unification and developments in Germany towards German unification.
I've done a bit more research regarding the value of this bond. I've found similar Irish Republic Bonds selling on auction sites for between $200 - $400. However, I've yet to find an exact match for my bond. Does anyone know how many different types of Irish Republic bonds were selling in 1866? And does the fact that this was signed by Michael Scanlan rather than John O'Mahoney affect its value as SanMiguel mentioned?
The other exiles that also issued banknote-like bonds denominated in Dollars were the Hungarians.These were issued by a Hungarian exile organisation whose leader was Lajos Kossuth (or Kossuth Lajos in the Hungarian form of his name).Lajos Kossuth was the Governor of Hungary at the time of the Hungarian War of Independence (1848-49).If you see any of these notes,then they are of interest to the Hungarians. Aidan.
Here's a link that will be of interest to some of you; www.numiswiki.com/index.php?title=Irish_Exile_Banknotes . Aidan.
It's in exceptional condition for these bonds. Even worm-eaten, incomplete ones often go for $100 or more. Add that it has an unusual signature combination, and I think it will bring as much as $500, perhaps more.
