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…
In 1971, Ireland decimalised its currency in parallel with the UK. We did this because we were tied to the UK Pound at that time and, of course, all of our coins were minted at the Royal Mint in the UK. Decimalisation also brought all of our coins back in line with the UK coin…
Introduction The Irish government began minting the original 10p coin two years prior to Decimal Day, 15 February 1971, hence the first 10p coins were dated 1969 and 1971 – when they were first circulated. These coins retained the exact design and dimensions (except denomination) of the old (pre-decimal) florin coin, first introduced to the…
The new Irish 20p coin In 1982 the then Minister for Finance, Ray MacSharry, announced that a twenty or twenty-five pence coin might be designed and in August 1984 the twenty pence was chosen. The Arts Council of Ireland recommended the horse design. The twenty pence (20p) coin was introduced on 30th October 1986. It was first…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 