Banking is a risky business. The recent financial crisis of 2007/08 is still fresh in the minds of the Irish public but there is almost three centuries of banking failures in Ireland – some were unfortunate, while others were fraudulent. And like nowadays, some got away with their crimes, while others went bankrupt and some…
The other Hiberno-Norse towns in Ireland became urban later than Dublin: a base was established in Limerick in the 830s/840s, the initial Norse settlement seems to have been established in the 920s but … Limerick did not develop into a town until around AD 967. Waterford may have been urban from around AD 980 Cork…
Date: c. 939-41 AD Description: Hiberno-Norse (Northumbria). Anlaf Guthfrithsson. 939-941. Silver Penny (20mm, 1.14 g, 7h). Eoferwic (York) mint; Athelferd, moneyer. CTCE group IV, a-al; SCBI 4 (Copenhagen) 628-33 var. (legend); BMC 1092-6 var. (legend and stops); North 537; SCBC 1019. EMC 2015.0099 (this coin). Almost Extremely Fine (aEF) Lightly toned An excellent example of this iconic…
Date: c. 950 – 1050 AD Description: A ‘hammered’ Viking Silver Trade Ingot, 10th-11th century AD – a rectangular-section ingot of silver with irregular ends. This ingot has been ‘worked’ into its current shape / dimensions via hammering on an anvil, i.e. flattened, elongated profile. Weight: 11 grams Length: 70mm (approx. 2.75 inches) Country: Ireland Category:…
Introduction: Realising that having an Irish currency equal to English standard weights resulted in a massive drain of silver out of Ireland and, consequently, reducing the amount of coinage in circulation + causing a recession, Edward IV moved towards remedying this by announcing a new (lower intrinsic value) coinage for Ireland in 1467: double-groats (eight…
Background Henry’s Troubled Succession Henry was born in France at Le Mans on 5 March 1133 as the eldest child of Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou, and the Empress Matilda, so titled because of her first marriage to Henry V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Henry’s mother was a very powerful woman: She was the…
In 1660, the crown prince (later James II) married Anne Hyde, daughter of Charles II’s chief minister and they had two surviving children, Mary and Anne (both raised as Protestants) but in 1669, Prince James converted to Catholicism and took a stand against a number of anti-Catholic moves, including the Test Act of 1673. This…
During the Irish War of Independence, the City of Limerick was very unusual insofar as it issued its own currency – a series of low denomination banknotes. It is the only instance of a labour organisation doing so, not on in Ireland but also throughout the UK. It is the first physical sign in a…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 