Background: George V’s reign was a turbulent one for Ireland and a very exciting for Irish numismatics – the highlight being a new Irish currency in 1928. After independence, Ireland continued to use GB & Ireland coins and banknotes. Despite the popularity of the new Irish currency, the coinage of GB & Northern Ireland persisted…
Two and a half years ago I wrote an article designed to generate discussion on whether (or not) Irish metal-detectorists were saints or sinners. I had hoped to get more opinions from the professionals involved in Irish archaeology – from both sides of the border – but they have remained quiet. An uneasy three-way ‘stand-off’…
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…
Most of the books and academic papers state that Ireland was a coinless society throughout the first millennium A.D. However, this is not strictly true, since small numbers of coins from the Roman world circulated in Ireland in the first half of this millennium. It is not thought that they were used as currency – it…
Among the most remarkable coins found in Ireland are those with Kufic inscriptions. Although these are not evidence for a direct Irish-Arabic trade, they are indicators of the extent of the wider Viking trade networks – particularly the Baltic/Byzantine route. It is thought that they came to Ireland, via Scandinavia. العملات الإسلامية القديمة في أيرلندا aleumlat…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 