Introduction: The idea of a separate currency goes back to the sitting of the First Dáil Éireann in 1919 as this newly declared independent parliament declared its intention to govern all 32 counties of Ireland. Many Irish politicians declared that they wanted a completely independent republic – as called for in various speeches in the…
The Central Bank of Ireland has opened its archives to the public for the first time and we hope that many unanswered questions of Irish numismatic interest can, at last, be answered. These archives include a range of materials created and acquired by the bank – such as objects, documents and ledgers dating from 1786…
2016 Market Values Last year (2015) saw a vibrant market for Ploughman £1 notes with many new collectors entering an already crowded field. The one pound Ploughman is the most affordable of the Consolidated Banks series and is, therefore the most popular starting point for this most elusive of modern Irish banknotes . Increased demand…
Introduction The Provincial Bank of Ireland was established in 1825, pioneered branch banking in Ireland. The terms, rights and privileges of the Bank of Ireland allowed it to effectively strangle the development of banking in Ireland until the Irish Banking Crisis that followed the post-Napoleonic War Depression. The Bank of Ireland effectively held a monopoly…
Introduction A currency board is an institutional arrangement for managing a currency with a fixed parity. The currency board is much more constrained than a central bank, insofar as these constraints help ensure that the fixed parity is maintained. The board’s main activity is to issue a local (slave) currency at a fixed rate of…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 