Introduction On 23rd October 1680, letters patent were granted to Sir Thomas Armstrong and Colonel George Legge) to manufacture copper halfpennies for use in Ireland for a period of 21 years. They were to be dated 1680, 1681, 1682, 1683, 1684 and 1685 but, since Charles II died in 1684, no coins dated 1685 have…
Although Armstrong & Legge’s patent to produce copper halfpennies for use in Ireland was confirmed by James II, these coins were actually minted by Sir John Knox, the Lord Mayor of Dublin. On the 17th June 1685, they transferred this patent by deed of appointment to Sir John Knox for the remainder of the time…
The fifty pence (50p) (Irish: caoga pingin) coin was a subdivision of the Irish pound. It was introduced in Ireland on 17 February 1970 – a year before Decimal Day. It replaced the ten shilling note when decimalised, albeit it could be argued that it also replaced the by then ‘elusive’ ten shilling coin (minted in…
The twenty pence (20p) (Irish: fiche pingin) coin was a subdivision of the Irish pound. It was introduced on 30th October 1986 and was first Irish decimal coin that was of a different size to the corresponding British coin. Its last issue was in 2000, two years before Ireland withdrew its pound for the euro. It…
The tenpence (10p) (Irish: deich pingin) was a sub-division of the Irish pound. It was introduced in Ireland on Decimal Day, 15th February 1971 and re-used the design on the florin coin first produced for the Irish Free State in 1928. Due to the similarity in size and weight, many of the old florin coins remained…
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](https://oldcurrencyexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/dublin-lazey-hill-nicholas-delone-penny.jpg?w=220&h=126&crop=1)
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…
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 five pence (5p) coin (Irish: cúig phingin) was a sub-division of the Irish pound. It was introduced in Ireland on Decimal Day, 15th February 1971 and re-used the design on the shilling coin first produced for the Irish Free State in 1928. Due to the similarity in size and weight, many of the old shillings…
Are you one of these people that constantly moan about the ugly designs of the ‘new’ euro coins and banknotes? Well, this is your chance to help them (the European Central Bank) get it right ! In July 2015, the nineteen ‘full members’ of the Euro Zone area will jointly issue a commemorative euro coin…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 