Background: Edward VIII advised the Royal Mint that he wanted a modern coinage to reflect a modern Britain but, after his abdication, it was his younger brother (George VI) who inherited his new designs – the first of which was the farthing. A European Wren replaced Britannia on the reverse. This bird motif was similar…
Background: By the 1950s, the farthing had pretty much lost its spending power and there were calls for its withdrawal. An average of 20 million farthings per year were produced during the reign of George VI but inflation made these coins virtually obsolete during Elizabeth’s early reign. The Royal Mint stopped producing them in 1956…
Background By the end of George V’s reign the threepence had become unpopular in England because of its small size. Although it was still popular in Scotland, the government of the day decided to introduce a more substantial thru’penny bit which would have a more convenient weight/value ratio than the silver coinage. The silver threepence…
Introduction: The ‘three-halfpence’ was the smallest silver coin ever struck by the Royal Mint for circulation. It was worth 11⁄2d (or 1⁄160 of a pound) and was produced for circulation in the British colonies, specifically for use in British Guiana, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Mauritius, Sierra Leone and the West Indies. They were a rough…
Background Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III. Both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820. She inherited the British throne at the age of 18, after her father’s three elder brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate…
Background William IV was the third son of George III, William succeeded his elder brother George IV, as the last king and penultimate monarch of Britain’s House of Hanover. Since his two older brothers died without leaving legitimate issue, he inherited the throne when he was 64 years old. King of the United Kingdom King…
Date: c. 1190-1199 Country: Ireland Category: Anglo-Norman House of Anjou Angevin Richard I (the Lion Heart) John as Lord of Ireland Second Coinage (Dominus / Cross Potent Issue) Dublin Mint Moneyer: Adam Hammered Further Reading: O’Brien Coin Guide: Why did Henry II not issue coins under his own name for Ireland? O’Brien Rare Coin…
Background In 1825, in the middle of the reign of King George IV, the long-planned “customs and monetary” union of Great Britain and Ireland was enacted. From a numismatic viewpoint, the farthings of 1826 changed design – from “draped bust laureat” to The Irish pound was thence tied to sterling and almost “free trade” conditions…
Introduction You may wonder what this article has to do with coins, or Ireland. The story begins during the War of the Three Kingdoms – otherwise known as the Bishops’ War in Scotland, the Great Rebellion in Ireland, and the English Civil War. After the execution of Charles I in 1649 many of his Crown…
![John (as Lord), Second coinage, Halfpenny, type 1b, Waterford, Wilmus, [—]llmvs on wa, 0.63g (S 6210, DF 39). Old Currency Exchange Dublin, Ireland. Irrish coin dealer Irish hammered coinage](https://oldcurrencyexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/john-as-lord-second-coinage-halfpenny-type-1b-waterford-wilmus-e28094llmvs-on-wa-0-63g-s-6210-df-39-crude-style-good-fine-but-surfaces-porous.jpg?w=220&h=126&crop=1)
Date: c. 1190-99 Description: Country: Ireland Category: Anglo-Norman House of Anjou Angevin Richard I (the Lionheart) John as Lord of Ireland Second Coinage (Dominus / Cross Potent Issue) Waterford Mint Moneyer: Willmus Hammered Further Reading: O’Brien Coin Guide: Why did Henry II not issue coins under his own name for Ireland? O’Brien Rare…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 