Coins of the Republic of Ireland
There have been three sets of
Background
The first coins minted in
The Irish Free State decided soon after its foundation in the 1920s to design its own coins and banknotes. It was decided that the Irish currency would be pegged to the pound sterling. The Coinage Act, 1926[1] was passed as a legislative basis for the minting of coins for the state and these new coins commenced circulation on 12 December 1928.
As is common with
Coins are issued by the central bank which acts as an agent of the Minister for Finance.
The pound
Pre-decimal coins
In the early 1920s, the
Some decisions were made at the outset. The harp was to be on most if not all coins, and all lettering would be in Irish. The committee decided that people associated with "the present time" should not feature in any designs, no doubt [citation needed] due to the political divisions which had led to the Irish Civil War. They decided later that religious or cultural themes should be avoided in case coins became relics or medals. Agriculture was essential to the economy of Ireland and this theme was chosen for the coins, which used designs featuring animals and birds.
Finally, the harp and the words Saorstát Éireann ("Irish Free State") were chosen for the obverse side of coins. Images of animals and birds were presented to the chosen artists to design the reverse and they were also given pictures of the Dalway harp and Trinity College harp for guidance. Later, the Minister for Finance decided that the value of the coins should be written in numerals as well as in words, and he suggested using plants; this latter suggestion was rejected because the competition was at an advanced stage and due to the difficulty of obtaining good facsimiles of plants.
Three Irish artists
The first coins were struck in 1928 and were minted at the
While many of the Irish coins are common, particularly in lower grades, there are some notable rarities. Most of the 1943 Florins and Half Crowns were melted down at the mint, and only small numbers were released. Only one and two specimens, respectively, are known of the 1938 Half Crown and Penny.[5]
Summary: Pre-decimal coins | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
English name | Irish name | Numeral[n 1] | Reverse | Introduction | Withdrawal | £1 fraction | Pence value |
Farthing | Feoirling | 1⁄4d | Woodcock | 12 December 1928 | 1 January 1962 | 1⁄960 | 1⁄4 |
Halfpenny | Leathphingin | 1⁄2d | Sow and farrow | 12 December 1928 | 1 August 1969 | 1⁄480 | 1⁄2 |
Penny | Pingin | 1d | Hen and chickens | 12 December 1928 | 1 January 1972 | 1⁄240 | 1 |
Threepence | Leath reul[n 2] | 3d | Irish hare
|
12 December 1928 | 1 January 1972 | 1⁄80 | 3 |
Sixpence | Reul[n 2] | 6d | Wolfhound | 12 December 1928 | 1 January 1972 | 1⁄40 | 6 |
Shilling | Scilling | 1s | Bull | 12 December 1928 | 1 January 1993 | 1⁄20 | 12 |
Florin | Flóirín | 2s | Salmon | 12 December 1928 | 1 June 1994 | 1⁄10 | 24 |
Half crown | Leath choróin | 2+1⁄2s | Horse | 12 December 1928 | 1 January 1970 | 1⁄8 | 30 |
Ten shillings | Deich scilling | 10s | Death of Cú Chulainn | 12 April 1966 | 10 February 2002 | 1⁄2 | 120 |
- ^ Irish coins used d as the abbreviation for pence, from the Latin denarius. This is in contrast to contemporary stamps, which used the abbreviation p from the Irish pingin.
- ^ a b The word reul (alternatively written réal) comes from the Spanish real, which in earlier centuries circulated widely in Ireland with a value of sixpence.[6]
Decimal coins
Three new designs were created in bronze for the new decimal currency by the artist Gabriel Hayes, and were based upon manuscript designs of ornamental birds in Celtic knotwork style. The designs of Percy Metcalfe were retained for the new five and ten pence coins, taken from the shilling and florin, respectively. The new fifty pence piece bore the image of the woodcock from the old farthing. The designs were quite simple using only figures and symbols to indicate the value; using only the letter "P" to denote both penny and pingin (the Irish word for penny).
In 1978, the Central Bank of Ireland opened the Currency Centre at Sandyford in Dublin for the production of coins and banknotes. Irish coins had previously been produced in Great Britain at the Royal Mint.
The rising expense of minting coins necessitated the introduction of the
The coins issued under the Decimal Currency Acts were finally withdrawn from circulation in 2002 by the Irish Pound Coinage (Calling In) (No. 2) Order, 2001[8] which revoked an earlier similar order; the date was set for 10 February 2002.
Summary: Decimal coins | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
English name | Irish name | Value in euro | Numeral | Diameter | Thickness | Reverse | Introduction | Withdrawal | £1 fraction |
Halfpenny | Leathphingin | €0.0063 | 1⁄2p | 17.14 mm | 1 mm | Ornamental bird | 15 February 1971 | 1 January 1985 | 1⁄200 |
Penny | Pingin | €0.0127 | 1p | 20.32 mm | 1.65 mm (1.52 mm before 1990) | Ornamental bird | 15 February 1971 | 10 February 2002 | 1⁄100 |
Two pence | Dhá phingin | €0.0254 | 2p | 25.91 mm | 2.03 mm (1.85mm before 1990) | Ornamental bird | 15 February 1971 | 10 February 2002 | 1⁄50 |
Five pence | Cúig phingin | €0.0635 | 5p | 18.5 mm (23.59mm before 1993) | Bull | 8 September 1969 | 10 February 2002 | 1⁄20 | |
Ten pence | Deich bpingin | €0.127 | 10p | 22.0 mm (28.5mm before 1993) | Salmon | 8 September 1969 | 10 February 2002 | 1⁄10 | |
Twenty pence | Fiche pingin | €0.2539 | 20p | 27.1 mm | Irish Hunter | 30 October 1986 | 10 February 2002 | 1⁄5 | |
Fifty pence | Caoga pingin | €0.6349 | 50p | 30.0 mm | 3.15 mm | Woodcock | 17 February 1970 | 10 February 2002 | 1⁄2 |
One Pound | Punt | €1.2697 | £1 | 31.11 mm | 1.90 mm | Red deer stag | 20 June 1990 | 10 February 2002 | 1 |
The euro
The introduction of the
The first collectors' commemorative coin issued since the changeover was a €10 silver coin to mark the Special Olympics in 2003. This was struck in sterling .925 silver and hand finished to create a distinctive gold logo and harp. A €5 coin was also produced. Since then a number of commemorative coins have been issued including one for the accession of the ten new European Union member states on 1 May 2004. One side of the €10 coin depicts a swan sitting on ten eggs, with the reverse depicting the harp and the names of all ten members in their native language. The first gold coin ever issued by the Central Bank was a €20 issued in 2006 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Samuel Beckett. These commemorative coins are only legal tender in Ireland, and are not valid elsewhere in the eurozone.
In 2007, Ireland issued a €2 common coin for general circulation, together with the others countries of the Eurozone, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome followed by a €2 common commemorative coin in 2009 celebrating the tenth anniversary of the birth of the euro currency in 1999, by another €2 common commemorative coin in 2012 for the tenth anniversary of the introduction of coins and banknotes denominated in euro and, finally, by another €2 common commemorative dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of the European Flag in 2015. For the first time since it adopted the euro, Ireland will issue on its own, in 2016, a €2 commemorative coin in honour of the hundredth anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1916.
In 2013 the Central Bank of Ireland issued a silver €10 commemorative coin in honour of James Joyce that misquoted a famous line from his masterwork Ulysses[9] despite being warned on at least two occasions by the Department of Finance over difficulties with copyright and design.[10]
All pre-euro Irish coins may be exchanged for their equivalent in euro any weekday morning at the Central Bank in Dublin.
See also
- Banknotes of the Republic of Ireland
- Coins of Ireland
- Arms of Ireland
- Commemorative coins of Ireland
- Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Ireland)
References
- ^ Coinage Act, 1926
- ^ Central Bank Act, 1942
- ^ Coinage Act, 1950
- ^ Coinage (Amendment) Act, 1966
- ^ Catalogue of Irish Coin Prices Modern Coins 1928-1969
- ^ "Proof Sixpence - 1950". Irish Coinage. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ Decimal Currency Act, 1990
- ^ S.I. No. 311/2001—Irish Pound Coinage (Calling In) Order, 2001
- ^ "Error in Ulysses line on special €10 coin issued by Central Bank". RTÉ News. 10 April 2013.
- ^ "Bank alerted to Joyce coin risk". Evening Herald. 25 May 2013.
Bibliography
- "Coinage of Saorstát Éireann", William Butler Yeats, The Stationery Office, Dublin, 1928.
- "The Irish Coinage Designs", Thomas Bodkin DLitt, Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin, November 30, 1928.