Introduction In 1911, the National Insurance Act, introduced on July 1st, created created an unusually large demand for bronze and silver coins. The Royal Mint could not meet this demand, so some of its production was sub-contracted to a private mint – The Heaton Mint, Birmingham. A massive 16,800,000 pennies were minted here in 1912…
Introduction According to Grace’s Guide – the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain – the King’s Norton Metal Company Limited provided the first competition to the Heaton, or Birmingham Mint when it was also sub-contracted to supply bronze blanks to the Royal Mint in 1912. Unlike the Heaton Mint, it…
A quarter-farthing was issued for use only in Ceylon between 1839 and 1853, and was never legal tender in the UK & Ireland. However, they are usually considered to be part of the UK coin series, as Ceylon used British currency at that time.
Introduction The Sinn Féin Bank, formally the Sinn Féin Co-operative People’s Bank was a co-operative bank in Ireland associated with Sinn Féin movement, which operated from August 1908 to October 1921. The Co-operative Bank was part of Griffith’s plan for national self-sufficiency. It was not a success, though it prepared the way for the later…
Date: 1927 Description: Country: Ireland Category: Irish Free State / Saorstát Éireann Pattern Notes: This is a ‘pattern’ coin entered by the Roman sculptor Publio Morbiducci (1889-1963) for the competition to design Ireland’s new money in 1928. Although unsuccessful, Morbiducci’s designs are considered to be some of the finest in terms of their…
Date: 1927 Description: Country: Ireland Category: Irish Free State / Saorstát Éireann Pattern Notes: This is a ‘pattern’ coin entered by the Roman sculptor Publio Morbiducci (1889-1963) for the competition to design Ireland’s new money in 1928. Although unsuccessful, Morbiducci’s designs are considered to be some of the finest in terms of their classical Italianate…
Date: 1927 Description: Sales History: Dixon Noonan & Webb, London Auction: Coins, Paper Money, Tokens and Historical Medals Date: 12 December 2016 Estimate: £4,000-5,000 Hammer Price: ? Country: Ireland Category: Irish Free State / Saorstát Éireann Pattern Notes: This is a ‘pattern’ coin entered by the Roman sculptor Publio Morbiducci (1889-1963) for the competition to…
The Irish five pence coin, first introduced in 1971, was 5.65518 grams in weight with a diameter of 2.3595 centimetres. This matched the British five pence coin. As a modern coin it became apparent in the late 1980s that the coin’s physical dimensions were large relative to its value. On 30th April, 1992, Minister for Finance…
Introduction In 1926, the Minister for Finance set up a special committee of persons with artistic knowledge to advise on the designs and he chose Senator W. B. Yeats to chair it. At the first meeting of the committee, on the 17th June 1926, Joseph Brennan (at that time Secretary to the Department of Finance and later Chairman…
Caveat emptor According to a recent report by the Numismatic Society of Ireland, several examples of this scarce (key date) halfcrown have appeared on the market, so buyers need to be extra vigilant when offered what may look like a bargain from an unusual source. Needless to say, an eBay seller “with little of no…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 