Introduction: Strictly speaking, the 1st Lord Baltimore wasn’t really Irish, although he was a member of the Irish peerage, had an Irish title and and resided on his Irish estates shortly before travelling to the Americas to set up his first colony in Newfoundland. He died just after acquiring the charter for Maryland. However, the…
Introduction: Edward joined the Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land – a crusade which accomplished little and was, effectively, the last of the great crusades. By this time, the so-called crusader spirit had waned considerably and there was little appetite shown by the kings of Europe. It also foreshadowed the imminent collapse of the last remaining crusader strongholds…
Introduction: At a meeting of his Irish Parliament in Drogheda in 1460, Henry VI declared (via his Lord Lieutenant, Richard, Duke of York) that a separate currency (silver coins) be struck in Ireland at the castles of Dublin and Trim and that it would be known as Irlandes d’argent (Irish silver). He further declared that the…
Introduction The impending war in Europe was of major concern to Ireland and most politicians were worried that a war in Europe would re-open the wounds of our own Civil War of 1922-23. The 1930’s were difficult for Ireland :- There were pro- and anti-fascist movements in Ireland and the IRA continued to pursue its own…
Background It is generally agreed that the first coins used in Ireland for trade purposes were those imported by the Dublin vikings in the mid-10th C and that these coins comprised a mixture of mainly Anglo-Saxon, with some European and Islamic (Kufic) coins also turning up in hoards and single finds. However, one pound (240…
2018 Market Values Ireland (Éire) US Grades G VF 20 XF40 AU50 MS61 YEAR Mintage Good Fine Very Fine Ex. Fine Uncirculated 1971 100,500,000 face face face face €1.00 1974 10,000,000 face face face face €5.00 1975 10,000,000 face face face face €5.00 1976 38,200,000 face face face face €2.00 1978 …
Introduction The first phase of the Hiberno-Norse coinages were imitations of contemporary Anglo-Saxon coins. They were produced in Dublin but closely copied the style of the silver pennies of Aethelred II of England and his successor Cnut. Since the English coin designs changed periodically, the dating and sequence of their Hiberno-Norse equivalents can be identified…
2018 Market Values Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) US Grades G VF 20 XF40 AU50 MS61RB YEAR Mintage Good Fine Very Fine Ex. Fine Uncirculated 1928 9,000,000 face €0.75 €1.50 €7.00 €20.00 proof €40.00 1931 2,400,000 face €1.25 €2.25 €15.00 €35.00 proof €1,250.00 1933 1,680,000 face €1.50 €2.75…
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…
The First Coins Minted in Ireland It is fairly well accepted that Sihtric, Hiberno-Norse King of Dublin was the first to mint coins in his own name in Ireland. To date, all 7 phases of Hiberno-Norse coin production in Ireland have been attributed to Dublin rulers. But, who brought the first coins into Ireland and…
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