Date: 1919-1924 Description: Between 1919 and 1924, some Irish Self Determination League member(s) took it upon themselves to deface British coins with a political over-strike. The base coins vary in date – this example pre-dates the organisation, therefore whoever did this simply picked coins out of circulation, de-faced them and put them back into circulation.…
Introduction You may wonder what this article has to do with coins, or Ireland. The story begins during the War of the Three Kingdoms – otherwise known as the Bishops’ War in Scotland, the Great Rebellion in Ireland, and the English Civil War. After the execution of Charles I in 1649 many of his Crown…
Background By the mid-17th century, the goldsmith bankers had a virtual monopoly on banking and had made extensive loans to King Charles II. The king was able to do this and circumvent parliament completely via the use of ‘tally sticks’ but there was a natural limit to this debt expansion, i.e. the amount of gold held…
Background The Great Stop of 1672 caused five of the leading London Goldsmiths to go bust, drastically affected nine others, and ‘financially embarrassed over 10,000 wealthy families in England. The Great Stop effectively ended the ‘cosy relationship’ between the king and a small clique of private bankers that thrived on the Crown’s inability to generate…
It is every metal detector’s dream to find something worth a million, although most of them do it for the exercise, the fresh air and the fun they have in researching their smaller finds. Its about the history. I was very surprised and impressed to discover that most detectorists donate their finds to local museums…
Introduction These coins are contemporary counterfeits and most of them were produced between 1782-1799, although some ‘dates’ are significantly earlier (and there is a good reason for this). They are easily spotted due to their unusual legends – a deliberate ploy in order to “evade” the counterfeiting laws of the time. In 1742, an Act…
The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of Irish & GB coins, tokens and banknotes 