Coins of Ireland

Ireland. Penny. 1692. William III (of Orange) and Mary II
GVLIELMVS . ET . MARIA . DEI . GRATIA
Conjoined busts of William and Mary
MAG . BR . FR . ET . HIB . REX . ET . REGINA
Crowned harp
Reeded edge
25mm x 26mm, 6.76g, Copper
Mintage: Unknown
KM 109

Common, scarce and rare Irish coins at Mintmark.com.

"Irish coins have been issued by a variety of local and national authorities, the ancient provincial Kings and High Kings of Ireland, the British Kingdom of Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Irish Free State, and by the present Republic of Ireland. Some modern British coins have Northern Ireland symbols (such as flax and the harp) but these are circulated throughout the UK. Hiberno-Norse coins were first produced in Dublin in about 997 AD [see, Medieval Coins at Mintmark.com] under the authority of King Sitric Silkbeard. The first coins were local copies of the issues of Aethelred II of England, and as the Anglo-Saxon coinage of the period changed its design every six years, the coinage of Sitric followed this pattern. Following the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 AD, the Hiberno-Norse coinage ceased following this pattern and reverted to one of its earlier designs—the so called long cross type. Coins of this general design (with occasional new designs incorporated briefly from other English and European issues) were struck in decreasing quality over a period of more than 100 years. By the end of the series the coins had become illegible and debased, and were too thin to serve for practical commerce. All the coins produced were the penny denomination. They were initially produced at the penny standard (i.e., one pennyweight or 1/240th of a pound of silver) but the later pieces are both debased and lightweight . . . coins were issued by Baron John de Courcy, Earl of Ulster. The coins which followed the Norman conquest (farthings, halfpennies and pennies) were minted to the same standard as those of England. A chief purpose of these coins was to provide a means for the export of silver from Ireland. Later pieces followed the standard of England until 1460 when a lower, Irish standard was introduced with coins weighing 3/4 of their English counterparts. This coincided with the introduction of a larger denomination, the groat (4 pence). Half groats followed in 1483. Edward VI issued the first Irish shillings following debasement of the coinage during the reign of Henry VIII. Prior to the reign of King Henry VIII (1509–47), the Irish coinage carried the title Dominus Hiberniae (or Lord of Ireland). After 1535, Henry took the title King of Ireland. In 1561, Elizabeth I introduced a higher standard of silver coinage for a few years before returning to a base standard. Copper halfpennies and pennies were also introduced. Higher standard issues were resumed by James I but all Irish issues ceased in 1607. During the English Civil War, a number of local coins were issued in Ireland. Copper halfpennies were struck between 1680 and 1689, during the reigns of King Charles II (1660–85) and King James II (1685–88). These coins were struck by the deposed King James II after he fled to France. These coins are unique because they show the month of issue as well as the year. As there was a shortage of metal for coinage, church bells and possibly old cannon were melted down, thus giving rise to the name Gun money or Gunmoney. These coins were declared illegal tender after King William III's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. A second issue of emergency coinage, consisting of farthings and halfpennies, was issued in 1691 for use in Limerick. After the end of the English Civil War, copper farthings and halfpennies resumed production, and pennies were added in 1805. In 1804, the Bank of Ireland introduced silver tokens for 6 shillings which were overstrikes on Spanish dollars. These were followed by 5, 10 and 30 pence Irish tokens. The last halfpennies and pennies were minted in 1823. The 1822–23 issue marked the last appearance of the symbol of a crowned harp, which represented the Kingdom of Ireland. Following this, standard British coinage was used throughout the island. The newly-independent Irish Free State circulated new national coinage in 1928, marked Saorstát Éireann (Irish Free State). Irish and British coinage were mutually acceptable in the Free State at an equal rate. In 1937, when the Free State was supplanted by Ireland/Éire, the coins became marked Éire and the Irish Pound (IEP, Púnt) remained pegged at par to sterling. Both Ireland (a republic since 1949) and the United Kingdom decimalized their currencies in 1971, and parity continued until Ireland joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1979. An exchange rate between the Irish pound and the pound sterling was established on 30 March 1979. The British and Irish 1p and 2p coins remained unofficially interchangeable until the euro was introduced in 2002, partly due to their identical size and shape. Ireland adopted the euro as its currency along with most of its EU partners on 1 January 2002. The national side of the Irish euro coins bears the coat of arms of Ireland and the 12 stars of the EU, the year of imprint and the Irish name for Ireland, Éire, in the traditional Irish script. These coins circulate throughout the eurozone. Northern Ireland has continued to use British coinage since the partition of Ireland. The British one pound coin has featured varying designs to represent England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the UK as a whole. The 1986 and 1991 issues featured a flax plant in a coronet, the 1996 issue featured a celtic cross and pimpernel, and the 2006 coin featured MacNeill's Egyptian Arch all representing Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. These coins are not unique to Northern Ireland and circulate through the entire United Kingdom and other sterling area countries." — Coins of Ireland at Wikipedia. This version was edited and (or) revised by Mintmark.com

"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 was passed as a legislative basis for the minting of coins for the state and these new coins commenced circulation on December 12, 1928. The first coins minted in Ireland were produced in about 995 AD in Dublin for King Sitric, the Hiberno-Norse King of 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 were farthings, halfpennies and pennies. It was not until the reign of Henry VIII that Irish coins bore the harp and, later in Henry's reign, the year. In the following centuries gold, silver and copper coins were issued, and at one time, metal from melted-down gun barrels was used; this was 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 during the reign of George IV, in 1823. Irish coins were withdrawn in 1826 following the full political union of Ireland and Britain in 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 introduced new coins and notes after independence, it was decided that these would remain pegged to the pound sterling. The decision was mainly for economic reasons because, in 1924, 98% of Irish exports went to Great Britain and Northern Ireland, while 80% of imports were from those territories. Additionally, the stability and backing of the pound sterling reassured the government that the new currency was on a firm foundation and did not weaken efforts to rebuild the country socially and economically, which was the 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. Coins are issued by the central bank which acts as an agent of the Minister for Finance. In the early 1920s, the Irish government created a committee headed by Senator W. B. Yeats to determine designs suitable for the coins. The committee members were Thomas Bodkin, Dermot O'Brien, Lucius O'Callaghan and Barry Egan. 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 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 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 Galway 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 Jerome Connor, Albert Power and Oliver Sheppard were chosen, 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 did not take part. Each artist was paid and allowed to produce designs in plaster or metal, with a prize for the winner. Identifying marks were removed from the designs so the committee did not know whose designs were being judged. Percy Metcalfe's designs were chosen and design modifications were added with assistance from civil servants at the Department of Agriculture. The first coins were struck in 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 did not 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.

Predecimal Coins
English name	Irish name	Numeral	Introduction	Withdrawal	£1 Fraction
Farthing	Feoirling	1/4d	12 December 1928	1 January 1962	1/960
Halfpenny	Leath Phingin	1/2d	12 December 1928	1 August 1969	1/480
Penny	Pingin	1d	12 December 1928	1 January 1972	1/240
Three-Pence	Leath Reul	3d	12 December 1928	1 January 1972	1/80
Sixpence	Reul	6d	12 December 1928	1 January 1972	1/40
Shilling	Scilling	1s	12 December 1928	1 January 1993	1/20
Florin	Flóirín	2s	12 December 1928	1 June 1994	1/10
Half-Crown	Leath Choróin	2s6d	12 December 1928	1 January 1970	1/8
Ten Shilling	Deich Scilling	10s	12 April 1966	10 February 2002	1/2

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; this yielded ambiguity about whether the P on the coins meant penny or pingin (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 had 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 denominations, in gold, silver and silver respectively. These coins used the Irish red deer design from 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, quite similar to the Irish euro coins. 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 which revoked an earlier similar order; the date was set for February 10, 2002. However, a number of pennies—sometimes mistaken for five-cent coins—incorrectly remain in circulation.

Decimal Coins
English name	Irish name	Numeral	Introduction	Withdrawal	£1 Fraction
Halfpenny	Leathphingin	1/2p	15 February 1971	1 January 1985	1/200
Penny	Pingin	1p	15 February 1971	10 February 2002	1/100
Two Pence	Dhá Phingin	2p	15 February 1971	10 February 2002	1/50
Five Pence	Cúig Phingin	5p	8 September 1969	10 February 2002	1/20
Ten Pence	Deich bPingin	10p	8 September 1969	10 February 2002	1/10
Twenty Pence	Fiche Pingin	20p	30 October 1986	10 February 2002	1/5
Fifty Pence	Caoga Pingin	50p	17 February 1970	10 February 2002	1/2
One Pound	Punt	£1	20 June 1990	10 February 2002	1

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 is 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 euros any weekday morning at the Central Bank in Dublin . . ." — Coins of the Republic of Ireland at Wikipedia. This version was edited and (or) revised by Mintmark.com

★ Irish coins on eBay. Offers not visible? Refresh this page. Not on eBay?

New Member Registration for eBay.

● See other world coins.

● Before you buy the coin, buy the book.

● Discount Coin Supplies at Jake's Marketplace, Inc.

Home | About | User Agreement | Privacy | Credits