Irish Coins

Love, Loyalty, and Friendship

Irish coins have been issued by a variety of local and national authorities, the ancient provincial Kings and High Kings of Ireland, the Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1801), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922), the Irish Free State (1922–1937), and the present Republic of Ireland. Irish coins began to be minted around 1000ad. Between 1689 and 1691 much civil war Gun money was struck, after 1691 intermittently coins were struck until 1822. After a gap of 106 years modern Irish coins began in 1928 with coins being struck from Half Crowns down to Farthings. Different farm animals are featured on the reverse.

• Beautiful coins and you have a very impressive collection - even more so given the quality of the coins. I have had a long standing interest in Irish coins & history although as I started as a sixpence collector this tends to be silver (free state) rather than copper/bronze - the one exception is this token from 1846 as this appears to have been issued by my family which is a bit odd as most.
• IRISnet price today is. $0.087150 USD with a 24-hour trading volume of $14,532,581 USD. IRISnet is up 0.37% in the last 24 hours. The current CoinMarketCap ranking is #169, with a market cap of $82,879,018 USD.

A long time ago, a young man from the village of Claddagh was captured by pirates while fishing on the sea. He left behind his love and was sold into slavery. Years passed and the young man waited for his chance to return home. He worked in a goldsmith shop and stole tiny flecks of the precious metal whenever he could. Eventually, he had acquired enough gold to fashion a ring for the girl he left behind years before.

When he finally managed to find his way home, the man, no longer young, found his love waiting for him to return. The gold ring was placed on her finger, and they lived the rest of their days as best friends in love, loyal to the end.

So goes the legend of the famous Claddagh ring. Ireland is home to more than 5,000 years of amazing history and evolved culture. The Claddagh ring is the incarnation of the Nation's heritage and most sacred values of love, loyalty, and friendship.

The heart in the center of the ring represents love. The crown is loyalty. The hands represent friendship and cradle the heart, just as friendship is the cradle for any powerful love. There are few symbols that capture the character of Ireland as well as the Claddagh ring.

Irish challenge coins are handcrafted in the spirit of Ireland's history, values, and culture. Each is a small piece of the island's heritage pressed into metal and shared with family, friends, and loved ones. Just as the Claddagh ring is a cherished part of Ireland's identity, so too are Irish challenge coins the personification of friendship, loyalty, and love.

For over 15 years, Signature Coins has been making custom world challenge coins for nations all across the globe. Organizations commission custom coins for teams like military units, law enforcement departments, and corporations. World challenge coins are designed to incorporate team specific imagery that binds people together through shared experience and shared vision. Irish challenge coins represent heritage and important cultural values by honoring the groups of people and the natural wonders that have created the unique nation of Ireland.

What Are Challenge Coins?

Challenge coins started as a military tradition and have spread to all corners of team-centered activity. This includes sports teams, businesses, governments agencies, and more. Irish challenge coins are earned by supporting teammates, embracing the culture of an organization, and performing above and beyond the call of duty. Each is an instrument for building camaraderie through shared vision and experience.

Custom designs incorporate team emblems, logos, and mission statements. Every Irish challenge coin is carried as a mark of personal merit. When superiors hand them out, it shows gratitude for service and recognizes an individual's value within the team. Some of the organizations that commonly order Irish challenge coins include:

• Military Organizations
• Law Enforcement Departments+
• Fire Departments
• Colleges and Universities
• Corporations and Local Businesses

Police officers, firefighters, and members of public service carry challenge coins as a symbol of honor, commitment, and integrity. Schools use Irish challenge coins to promote school spirit and honor faculty. Businesses commission custom Irish challenge coins to build brand awareness and to mark important company milestones. The uses for custom coins is endless. Some of the locations that benefit from Irish challenge coins include:

• Dublin
• Cork
• Rosslare
• Belfast
• Galway
• Killarney
• Waterford
• Drogheda
• Boston, MA

Irish challenge coins are used to celebrate graduations, promotions, and retirements. Businesses use them to align team goals and to honor milestone achievements. Special dates, school mascots, department insignias, and city emblems are common aspects of design used to provide personal meaning to each Irish challenge coin. It just depends on the organization.

• Dublin
• Cork
• Rosslare
• Belfast
• Galway
• Killarney
• Waterford
• Drogheda
• Boston, MA

Irish challenge coins are used to celebrate graduations, promotions, and retirements. Businesses use them to align team goals and to honor milestone achievements. Special dates, school mascots, department insignias, and city emblems are common aspects of design used to provide personal meaning to each Irish challenge coin. It just depends on the organization.

Irish coins have been issued by a variety of local and national authorities, the ancient provincial Kings and High Kings of Ireland, the Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1801), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922), the Irish Free State (1922–1937), and 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.

History[edit]

Irish Coins Before The Euro

Hiberno-Norse coins[edit]

Hiberno-Norse coins were first produced in Dublin in about 997 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 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.

Baronial coins of Ulster[edit]

Irish Coins Images

These coins were issued by Baron John de Courcy, Earl of Ulster.

Regal hammered coinage[edit]

The coins which followed the 1169–75 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 ¾ 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.

Early milled regal coinage[edit]

Copper halfpennies were struck between 1680 and 1689, during the reigns of King Charles II (1660–85) and King James II (1685–88).

Civil War coinage of 1689–91[edit]

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.^{[citation needed]}

A second issue of emergency coinage, consisting of farthings and halfpennies, was issued in 1691 for use in Limerick.

Wood's Halfpence[edit]

William Wood was authorised in 1722 to produce up to 360 tons of halfpence and farthings for Ireland at 30 pence to the pound over a period of fourteen years for an annual fee of £800 paid to the king. These coins were unpopular in Ireland, largely due to Jonathan Swift's polemical Drapier's Letters, and Wood lost his patent though compensated with a pension.

Later Crown coinage[edit]

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.

Coins of the Irish State after 1921[edit]

Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, the Irish Free State first circulated new national coinage in 1928, marked Saorstát Éireann (Irish Free State), although British coinage was still acceptable in the Free State at an equal rate. In 1937, following the adoption of the Constitution of Ireland which changed the name of the independent Irish State, the coins became marked Éire, although the Irish pound remained pegged at par to sterling.

Ireland and the United Kingdom decimalised their currencies in 1971, and parity between the two currencies 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 smaller denomination British 1p and 2p coins continued to be unofficially interchangeable with the Irish coins 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.

Coins of Northern Ireland[edit]

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 flax flower, the 2006 coin featured MacNeill's Egyptian Arch, and the 2014 coin featured a shamrock and flax plant, 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.

The Giant's Causeway appeared on two five-pound coins in 2012; these are commemorative coins and are rarely circulated.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]