Everything about Irish Coinage totally explained
The state now called
Ireland (and sometimes described as the
Republic of Ireland) decided in the mid-
1920s to design its own
coins and
banknotes; at this stage it was decided that the Irish currency would be pegged to the
Pound Sterling. The
Coinage Act, 1926
was passed as a legislative basis for the minting of coins for the state and these new coins commenced circulation on
December 12 1928.
See also: Banknotes of the Republic of Ireland
Background
The first coins minted in
Ireland were produced for King
Sigtrygg III (Sitric), a
Hiberno-
Norse King of Dublin, about
AD 995 in
Dublin. These penny coins bore the head and name of the King and the word "Dyflin" for Dublin.
John of England was among the first
Anglo-Norman monarchs to mint coins in Ireland – these coins were farthings, halfpennies and pennies. It wasn't until the reign of
Henry VIII that Irish coins started to bear the
harp and later in the reign the year, for the first time as well. Over the coming centuries coins were issued from
gold,
silver and
copper and at one stage from melted-down
gun barrels; the so called "gun money". Coins issued in the
18th and
19th centuries often included the word
Hibernia on the harp side. The last Irish coins issued prior to independence, were issued during the reign of
George IV in
1823 and finally Irish coins were withdrawn in
1826 as a result of the integration that resulted from the
1800 Act of Union. Occasional "fantasy" coins were minted in the next century but these were neither
circulated nor
legal tender.
When the
Irish Free State decided to introduce new coins and notes it was decided that these would remain pegged to the Pound Sterling; this was taken primarily for
economic considerations as in 1924 Irish exports to
Great Britain and
Northern Ireland were 98% of all exports, whilst imports from these areas was 80% of all imports. Additionally the stability and backing of the Pound Sterling reassured the government that the new currency was on
a firm foundation and didn't detract from rebuilding the social and economic fabric of the country which was the then government's first commitment.
As is common with
numismatic terminology the side of the
seal of the state is termed the "
obverse"; this is often called the common side; the "
reverse" is the side with the denomination specific design. In Ireland the obverse and reverse are often incorrectly attributed to the wrong sides.
As is the usual convention coins are issued by the
central bank who acts as an agent of the
Minister for Finance.
The pound
Predecimal coins
In the early 1920s, the
Irish government (then called the
Executive Council of the
Irish Free State) set up a committee under
Senator W. B. Yeats to determine designs suitable for the coins. This committee consisted of
Thomas Bodkin,
Dermot O'Brien,
Lucius O'Callaghan and
Barry Egan.
Early in the design process a number of decisions were made. It was decided that the
harp should be on most if not all coins, and all lettering should be in Irish. Also it was determined that people associated with "the present time" shouldn't be incorporated on any designs, no doubt due to the deep divisions carved by the
Irish Civil War. It was later decided that anything with religious or cultural connotations should be avoided because this might have led to coins becoming relics or medals. At the time, and for centuries previously,
agriculture was essential to the
economy of Ireland and this theme was decided upon for the coins, which used designs featuring animals and birds.
Finally the decision was taken to use the harp and the words "
Saorstát Éireann" on the obverse side of all coins. A number of pictures and photographs of animals and birds were presented to the chosen artists to design the reverse and they were also given pictures of the
Galway and
Trinity College, Dublin harps for guidance. Later in the design process the
Minister for Finance decided that the value of the coins should be in numerals as well and also suggested using plants; this latter suggestion was decided against because the competition was at an advanced stage and also the difficulty of getting good facsimiles of plants.
Three Irish artists
Jerome Connor,
Albert Power and
Oliver Sheppard were shortlisted and accepted, and also the foreign artists
Paul Manship (American),
Percy Metcalfe (English)
Carl Milles (Swedish) and
Publio Morbiducci (Italian); a number of other artists were invited but didn't take part. Each artist was compensated for his time and was allowed to produce designs in
plaster or
metal with a prize for the winner; when the committee reviewed the designs all identifying marks were removed so that the committee didn't know whose designs were being reviewed. Ultimately Percy Metcalfe's designs were chosen and a number of modifications were incorporated into these designs with assistance from
civil servants at the
Department of Agriculture.
The first coins were struck in, and dated 1928 and were minted at the
Royal Mint in
London. In 1938 following the introduction of the
Constitution of Ireland the obverse of the coins was modified with the
Irish language name of the State, "
Éire", and the harp was also modified so that it wore better. The
Central Bank Act, 1942 Section 58 allowed pure
nickel to be substituted with a
cupro-nickel alloy. The description of the state as the "
Republic of Ireland" didn't require any change in the name on coins issued after
1948. The
Coinage Act, 1950 changed the law on coinage principally with the removal of silver from coins then in existence. The final piece of primary legislation for predecimal coins was the
Coinage (Amendment) Act, 1966 which allowed for a
ten shilling coin to be minted and circulated.
Decimal coins
The provision of new designs of coins for decimalisation was a low key event in Ireland, and indeed it was reported that mere
tokens, without any designs other than the stated denomination and state seal, would be provided in the case of the three lowest denominations. Had this occurred then no new designs would have taken place for
Decimal Day.
In any event three new designs were completed in
bronze by the Irish artist
Gabriel Hayes, and were based upon various
manuscript designs of ornamental birds with a
Celtic knotwork theme. The designs of Percy Metcalfe were retained for the new five and ten pence coins, taken from the shilling and florin respectively. The design of the new fifty pence retained the image of the farthing, which wasn't of the same value. The design selection was low key and the designs themselves were quite simple using only figures and symbols to indicate the value; this left some ambuiguity as to whether "P" on the coins meant "penny" or "pingin", where the latter is the
Irish word for penny. Notwithstanding this the legislative basis for coins in the Republic has always used English words irrespective of final design mints.
The rising expense of minting coins necessitated the introduction of the
twenty pence coin in 1986, the
halfpenny coin was withdrawn at this time as
inflation greatly reduced its buying power. The introduction of the
Irish pound coin required the
Decimal Currency Act, 1990 and this law provided for certain other matters including the issue of
European Currency Unit (ECU) coins which were specifically stated not to be
legal tender in the legislation, instead intended as
collectors items. These ECU coins were issued in 50 ECU, 10 ECU and 5 ECU, which were issued in
gold,
silver and silver respectively. These coins used the Irish red deer as on the Irish pound coin with a mountain relief in the background and other notable differences such as the
12 stars of the European Flag surrounding the
harp somewhat similar to the
Irish euro coins.
The coins issued under the Decimal Currency Acts were finally "
called in" in 2002 by the
Irish Pound Coinage (Calling In) (No. 2) Order, 2001 which revoked an earlier similar order; the date was set for
February 10,
2002. However, a number of pennies - often mistaken as five-cent coins - are still currently incorrectly in circulation.
The euro
The introduction of the
euro was overseen by the
Euro Changeover Board of Ireland which was a special agency created on
May 5 1998 by the Minister for Finance; this agency provided a wide variety of information including converters, training packs, images and public advertisements on a wide range of media to ensure a successful transfer. As with all
eurozone countries, Ireland continued to mint her own coins after the currency changeover to the euro. One side of euro coins is common across the eurozone, it's the obverse which has a design unique to Ireland. Although some other countries used more than one design, or even a separate design for each of the eight coins (1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, €1 and €2), Ireland used only one design. A redesigned harp (superficially identical to that used on earlier coins) was used, having been designed by
Jarlath Hayes. Some other eurozone members have unique lettering around the €2 coin. The edge on Irish €2 coins merely has the sequence "", repeated three times.
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 commemotative 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 coin for general circulation commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the
Treaty of Rome. This is, to date, the only circulating commemorative €2 coin issued by Ireland.
All pre-euro Irish coins may be exchanged for their equivalent in euro any weekday morning at the Central Bank in Dublin.
Further Information
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