Most of the coins listed below were struck as ‘proofs’ – the exception being the first of the series, the €5 Special Olympics coin.  This was a cupro-nickel coin and is available as BU mini-presentation folder.  In addition to this, all other coins were struck in either Sterling silver or gold and are issued in special presentation boxes with certificates of authenticity from the Central Bank of Ireland.

A proof coin is one struck on a highly polished flan which gives the field a ‘mirror-like’ appearance.  The contrast between this polished surface and the raised detail of the coins sometimes gives their designs a ‘frosted’ appearance.

This, in addition to the low mintages (limited editions), makes them highly desirable by collectors and they sell at a substantial premium above their bullion value.  As such, they cannot be considered ‘bullion’ coins like the 1 oz. coins (silver rounds) sold by major mints around the world to investors.

The links (blue underlined text) below display illustrations from my Pinterest coin image repository.

2003	Description	Coins	Mintage
Feb-2003	Special Olympics €5 silver (in sealed blister pack) inside, showing reverse design	1	35,000
Feb-2003	Special Olympics €10 silver (boxed) reverse design: 0.925 fine silver, with gold-plated Special Olympics logo	1	30,000

The €5 coin is somewhat of an anomaly insofar as it is not a proof coin struck in a precious metal, nor is it part of a BU set, or a coin intended for circulation presented in a BU folder, i.e. these special €5 commemorative coins never circulated.  It did, however, also appear in our second BU set (in 2003) as part of a nine-coin BU set commemorating the Special Olympics.

• I have included it here, alongside its ‘sister coin’ the €10 Special Olympics proof
• Unlike the rest of the proof coins and any of the circulating euro coins, it was struck in cupro-nickel
• Like the proof coins, it is a ‘special limited edition’ and very collectible

2004	Description	Coins	Mintage
8-Apr-2004	EU Presidency & EU Expansion €10 silver (boxed) Obverse: the Harp, surrounded by the names of the 10 accession states Reverse: a swan, representing the Children of Lir (Irish Mythology)	1	50,000

2005	Description	Coins	Mintage
23-May-2005	Rowan Hamilton €10 silver (boxed) reverse: Sir William Rowan Hamilton, Inventor of Quaternions	1	30,000

2006	Description	Coins	Mintage
2-May-2006	Samuel Beckett €10 silver (boxed) reverse: Samuel Beckett / Waiting for Godot	1	35,000
2-May-2006	Samuel Beckett €20 gold (boxed)	1	20,000
2-May-2006	Samuel Beckett €10 + €20 double set (boxed)	2	10,000

2007	Description	Coins	Mintage
15-Feb-2007	Meštrović €15 silver (boxed) reverse: the seal of the Central Bank of Ireland	1	8,000
16/17-Feb-2007	Joint Ireland & Croatia Meštrović €15 + 105 kuna silver (Irish box) * Joint Ireland & Croatia Meštrović €15 + 105 kuna silver (Croatia box) Irish box contents: Irish reverse + Croatian obverse reverse designs: Ireland €15 and Croatia 150 kuna	2	1,000
11-Sep-2007	Celtic Culture €10 silver (boxed) reverse: interlocking Early Christian motifs + modern cultural symbols	1	35,000
11-Sep-2007	Celtic Culture €20 gold (boxed) reverse: interlocking Early Christian motifs + modern cultural symbols	1	25,000
11-Sep-2007	Celtic Culture €10 + €20 double set (boxed)	2	5,000

* The design, known as ‘Girl with Harp’ was prepared in 1927 by Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962), a Croatian Sculptor of international renown, as an entry in the competition for the design of the 1928 Irish Free State coinage. Unfortunately, the design arrived too late for consideration. The Chairman of the Design Committee, William Butler Yeats, subsequently wrote “He made one magnificent design and, on discovering that the date had passed, gave it to the Irish Free State with great generosity”

• See my recent blog post The controversial 1927 Irish coin design competition for further details about the Meštrović entry
• The design has been used as the seal of the Central Bank of Ireland since 1963

The €15 coin was produced with the permission and co-operation of the Meštrović Foundation in Croatia. In addition to the 8,000 individual €15 coins issued, a double proof coin set, limited to 2,000 sets, was also issued.

• 1,000 sets were sold exclusively in Croatia (in a navy-coloured box)
• 1,000 sets were only available to purchase at the Dublin International Coin Fair held in the RDS on 16 & 17 February 2007
  • Five hundred sets were made available for purchase each day (via tickets issued to the first 500 patrons upon arrival)
  • This was strictly limited to one purchase per individual
  • The Irish double sets were issued in a dark green box

The double coin set included the €15 silver proof coin as well as a 150 kuna silver proof coin. This sister coin is identical to the Irish coin except for an inscription in Croatian and the Croatian crest in place of the shamrock.

2008	Description	Coins	Mintage
23-Apr-2008	Sceilig Mhíchil €10 silver (boxed) obverse & reverse: €10 silver Sceilig Mhíchil	1	25,000
23-Apr-2008	Sceilig Mhíchil €20 gold (boxed) reverse: €20 gold Sceilig Mhíchil	1	15,000
23-Apr-2008	Sceilig Mhíchil €10 + €20 double set (boxed)	2	25,000
Sep-2008	Shackleton & Crean, Polar Explorers €5 silver (boxed) obverse & reverse designs: Irish harp (obv.) + Shackleton & Crean	1	6,000
Sep-2008	Shackleton & Crean, Polar Explorers €100 gold (boxed) obverse: reverse: Ernest Shackleton & Tom Crean (see illustration below)	1	2,000

2009	Description	Coins	Mintage
6-May-2009	The Ploughman €10 silver (boxed) reverse: stylised ploughman (Consolidated Banks notes)	1	15,000
6-May-2009	The Ploughman €20 gold (boxed) reverse: stylised ploughman (Consolidated Banks notes)	1	10,000
6-May-2009	The Ploughman €10 + €20 double set (boxed)	2	5,000
4-Nov-2009	125th Anniversary of the GAA €15 silver (boxed) reverse: Hurler + GAA logo	1	10,000

2010	Description	Coins	Mintage
28-May-2010	An Gaisce – President’s Award €10 silver (boxed) obverse design: Irish harp surrounded by a laurel wreath reverse design: Áras an Uachtaráin + inscription ‘Gaisce 25 Years’	1	8,000
28-May-2010	An Gaisce – President’s Award €20 gold (boxed) reverse design: Áras an Uachtaráin + inscription ‘Gaisce 25 Years’	1	6,000
28-May-2010	An Gaisce – President’s Award €10 + €20 double set (boxed)	2	4,000
13-Sep-2010	Horse €15 silver (boxed) reverse design: Irish Hunter (Horse)	1	15,000

2011	Description	Coins	Mintage
15-Feb-2011	St Brendan the Navigator €10 silver (boxed) reverse design: iconography associated with St Brendan’s epic journey	1	15,000
18-Apr-2011	Celtic Cross €20 gold (boxed) reverse: stylised Irish High Cross, monastery & round tower in background	1	12,000
10-Oct-2011	Salmon €15 silver (boxed) reverse: a tribute to Percy Metcalfe’s original florin design	1	12,000

2012	Description	Coins	Mintage
25-Jan-2012	Jack B Yeats €10 silver (boxed) reverse design: portrait of Yeats overlooking a sketch of a horse	1	12,000
9-May-2012	Book of Kells €20 gold (boxed) reverse design: Irish monk working in monastic scriptorium	1	12,000
15-Aug-2012	Michael Collins €10 silver (boxed) reverse design: by artist Thomas Ryan, portrait of Michael Collins	1	8,000
15-Aug-2012	Michael Collins €20 gold (boxed) obverse +reverse design: by artist Thomas Ryan, portrait of Michael Collins	1	12,000
15-Aug-2012	Michael Collins €10 + €20 double set (boxed)	2	6,000
12-Dec-2012	Irish Wolfhound €15 silver (boxed) reverse: a tribute to Percy Metcalfe’s original sixpence design	1	17,000

2013	Description	Coins	Mintage
27-Jun-2013	John F. Kennedy €10 silver (boxed) reverse: bust of JFK	1	15,000
	John F. Kennedy €20 gold All of the €20 gold coins minted were sold as part of the ‘double set’
27-Jun-2013	John F. Kennedy €10 + €20 double set (boxed) obverse + reverse: €20 gold	2	10,000
11-Apr-2013	James Joyce €10 silver (boxed) obverse + reverse: stylised bust of James Joyce + Ulysses quotation	1	10,000
24-Sep-2013	Dublin Lockout / Jim Larkin €15 silver (boxed) reverse: Jim Larkin speaking to the workers	1	10,000
12-Nov-2013	Medieval Irish Architecture €20 gold (boxed) reverse: The Rock of Cashel	1	10,000

2014	Description	Coins	Mintage
29-Jan-2014	John McCormack €10 silver (boxed) reverse: John McCormack & vintage gramaphone	1	8,000
30-Apr-2014	Battle of Clontarf €20 gold (boxed) reverse design: stylistic bust of Brian Ború, High King of Ireland	1	12,000
1-Sep-2014	John Philip Holland, Submarine €15 silver (boxed) reverse design: Model of Holland 1 (Royal Navy Submarine Museum)	1	10,000
17/18/19-Oct-2014	Animals triple set, 3 x €15 Proof Set (limited edition, boxed) **	3	1,000

** This special ‘limited’ edition set was only available at the Irish International Stamp & Coin Fair at the RDS, Dublin (17-19 October)

• It had a strictly limited issue number of only 1,000 sets
  • This set was not available to purchase anywhere else
  • Sales were limited to only one set per attendee

2015	Description	Coins	Mintage
13-Jan-2015	Ernest Walton, Nobel Prize Physics €15 silver (boxed) reverse design: schematic of energy release by splitting a Lithium atom	1	6,000
3-Jun-2015	W.B. Yeats, Nobel Prize Literature €15 silver (boxed) reverse design: bust of W.B. Yeats + visual poem with rhythm and beat	1	8,000
27-Oct-2015	70th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 70th anniversary of peace in Europe (boxed) reverse design: olive branch and doves (a widely accepted universal symbol of peace)	1	8,000

 

2016	Description	Coins	Mintage
?-Mar-2016	Silver €15 Proof Commemorative	1	?
?-Mar-2016	Gold €50 Proof Commemorative	1	?
?-Mar-2016	Double (boxed pair) Set of 2016 Commemoratives Silver €15 Proof Commemorative Gold €50 Proof Commemorative	2	?
?-Mar-2016	Gold €100 Proof Commemorative	1