Isle Of Man - 20 Pounds Dated 1979 The Millennium Year Of Tynwald Commemorative

Twenty Pounds

Dated 1979

Reverse

This Isle of Man Millennium commemorative £20 (P32a) note was issued in 1979 celebrating at least 1,000 years of the world’s oldest continuous Parliament. In Isle of Man, the Parliament is called Tynwald and is an open-air meeting usually conducted once a year during mid Summer time (usually around 5th of July). This open-air meeting was reported to have first commenced in the 9th or 10th century by the Norse invaders. The purpose of this meeting is to provide the people the opportunity to hear the laws of the land, to seek justice and to air their grievances etc. This meeting has been going on annual virtually unchanged since 800AD. The Tynwald meeting is now conducted in both Manx Gealic and English. This note is printed with the commemorative text - "ISSUED DURING MILLENNIUM YEAR 1979". The design of this note has nothing to do with this special commemorative. The reverse of the note depict the Laxey Wheel, a waterwheel built in the village of Laxey in 1854. It is also the largest working waterwheel in the world. Perhaps the design of the £1 note (reverse - see below) would be more appropriate for this commemorative. The celebration of this 1000th annual open-air sitting was attended by Queen Elizabeth The Second on 6.7.1979. This is a limited issue. This is a rather a large size note measuring 160mm x 90mm. This was the largest denomination at the time of the release as the £50 (P39) was not issued until 1983. Only 5000 pieces released with serial numbers 000001 - 005000. By any standard, this would not be considered as low issue but then this note was also released to the public for general circulation.

Watermark: famous Isle of Man Manx Triskele

One Pound Note Reverse (P40a) Tyawald Hill

Some reported that the design on the reverse of the £20 also features a likeness of the 1970s US sitcom character Fonzie of the Happy Days. If this is correct, then I can also see the US President Abraham Lincoln standing there waving with his top hat too. And could that be Florence Nightingale standing next to Lincoln? :-)