The most comprehensive private collection of Irish Ten Shilling notes ever assembled will be auctioned by Dix Noonan Webb on September 25 in London. The collection of the late Tony Lenny, who latterly lived in Wicklow, displays extraordinary perseverance. He spent 40 years putting it together and acquired examples of 230 of the 231 dates on which Irish Ten Shilling notes were issued. Opinion differs on whether the one that evaded him actually exists.
The Lenny Collection is being auctioned in two parts. Among the 78 lots to be offered later this month are the only known examples of a particular date or prefix. Rare notes from the 1920’s and 1930’s are included along with a fascinating group from the early 1940’s all stamped with single code letters as a wartime security measure. Estimates brange from £100 to £150 up to £800 to £1,000 for a rare note dated 31 December 1929.
Born in 1924 in Cookstown, County Tyrone Tony Lenny worked as an executive at the Irish Grain Board and at R. & H. Hall. He and his wife Dympna moved to Bray, raised five children and ran a wool shop. Tony Lenny loved horse racing and he opened two betting offices, one in Bray and the other in central Dublin.
UPDATE: All 78 lots were sold for a total hammer price of £25,680 (£30,816 with commission) – the two top lots each made £1,200 at hammer.
A RARE TEN SHILLING NOTE FROM DECEMBER 1929.
THE LATE TONY LENNY