Portrait of King Charles II, by John Riley

Proclamation of Charles II, 1674: prohibiting farthings, half-pence, or pence of brass with private stamps

Proclamation of Charles II, issued 5th December 1674 Enjoining the Prosecution of Persons making or uttering farthings, half-pence, or pence of brass with private stamps By the King. A Proclamation enjoining the prosecution of all such persons as shall make or utter any farthings, half-pence, or pence of brass, or utter base metals with…

A 1656 Samuel Cooper portrait of Cromwell 1st Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland In office (16th December 1653 – 3rd September 1658)

Selected Mini-Biographies of the Great Irish Rebellion & English Civil War, 1641-52

This is a selected biography of this complex international conflict – sometimes known as the War of the Three Kingdoms. But it was much more than a war – it was a battle for the hearts and minds of the people that lived and worked in these three very different kingdoms. It began with a…

Undated St. Patrick's Farthing. Silver. Nice Choice Extremely Fine. 98.1 gns. No nimbus. FLOREAT REX obverse. QVIESCAT PLEBS reverse

O’Brien Coin Guide: The ‘Anonymous’ St Patrick’s Halfpennies

The St Patrick Halfpenny is thought to have been a ‘milled coin’ minted in the 17th century for use in Ireland, although there is evidence that later versions were minted in the American Colonies. Two sizes are available to collectors – large and small. Contrary to popular belief, the smaller coin is not a farthing…

17th century Irish tradesmens' tokens - Dublin, Lazey Hill, Nic[holas] Delone, Penny

O’Brien Coin Guide: 17th C Tradesmens’ Tokens of Dublin

Although manufactured and used over 350 years ago, many of these tokens were issued with pretty much the same form of English as we use nowadays, with a few notable exceptions to their alphabet and spelling, e.g. The letter “U” is always represented by the letter “V”, e.g. DVBLIN There was no letter “J” in…

Cork, under Commonwealth authority, Farthing token, overstruck on a Double Tournois of Louis XIII

The Proliferation of Unofficial Irish ‘Farthing Tokens’ in the 17th Century

By the first half of the 17th C, the copper coinage in both Britain and Ireland was in complete disarray. Neither James I nor his son, Charles I, took much interest in providing small denominations and ‘farmed out’ the Royal prerogative of minting copper coins to ‘favourite’ courtiers as patentees – Lords Harington, Richmond, Lennox and Maltravers were the principal…

The Irish Armstrong farthing legend reads as follows :- CAROLVS II D G M B FRA ET HIB REX which translates and expands to :- Charles II by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland

O’Brien Coin Guide: Armstrong’s ‘Patent’ Irish Farthings (1660-61) for Charles II

Upon his restoration to the crown in 1660, King Charles II granted a patent to Sir Thomas Armstrong to ‘coin farthings’ for the next twenty years and all other (unofficial) farthings were to be prohibited. In 1661, two royal proclamations were issued prohibiting the issuing and use of brass or copper tokens In 1662,…

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The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes

An educational and entertaining website where collectors, both young and not so young, can read about the economics, history and politics behind Irish coin and banknote issues.

Charles II