Central Bank Act, 1989.

Defacement, etc., of legal tender notes and consolidated bank notes.

123.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to do any of the following things, that is to say—

(a) to cut, tear, or otherwise mutilate, or to interfere with any security device on or contained in, a legal tender note or a consolidated bank note, or

(b) to write, print, draw, stamp, emboss, or in any other way impress on a legal tender note or a consolidated bank note any letter, figure, design, or other mark, or

(c) to perforate a legal tender note or a consolidated bank note, whether the perforations do or do not form or represent any letter, figure, or other design, or

(d) to attach or affix to a legal tender note or a consolidated bank note any memorandum, advertisement or other writing.

(2) Every person who commits any act in relation to a legal tender note or a consolidated bank note which is a contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000.

(3) The fact that a legal tender note has been the subject of an act which is a contravention of this section shall not prejudice or affect any obligation imposed or power conferred on the Bank by sections 121 and 122 of this Act to pay or exchange such note nor prejudice or affect any power so conferred on the Bank to refuse to exchange such note.

(4) The fact that a consolidated bank note has been the subject of an act which is a contravention of this section shall not prejudice or affect the obligation imposed on the Bank by section 36 (3) of the Principal Act in respect of payment on presentation of the note at its principal office in Dublin.

(5) This section shall not apply to anything done by or on behalf of the Bank for the purpose of the cancellation of a legal tender note or the retirement or cancellation of a consolidated bank note.