Irish Coinage
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1928 Set
1928 Irish Set (proof strikings - 1961 restrike)
This set of coins is a restrike of the 1928 proof set. The set was struck in 1961 in the Royal Mint as part of a plan to mint a further batch of 1928 sets. The Irish Government had been using the stock of 1928 sets as presentation pieces for over 30 years and the original 6,001 sets minted had run out by about 1960. The Royal Mint ran off a short run of 50 of these restrike sets. The Irish Government did not proceed with the plan so these 50 sets remain an anomaly in the series.
Between 1928 and 1961 minting technology had improved considerably and the quality of the 1961 restrikes is substantially better than that of the original 1928 sets. The coins have deep mirror fields and heavily frosted devices, giving a cameo effect. Many of the scarcer Irish proofs from about 1939 onwards exhibit this quality, but the 1961 restrikes of the 1928 set are the most spectacular of all the proofs in the pre-decimal series.
This particular set unfortunately had been handled while in its box (A square Central Bank of Ireland box) - so the reverses of the coins (below) are not quite as spectacular as the obverses (above).
I am not aware how many of the original 50 sets were actually issued. There have been very few sales of these sets, but from one recent example of a set in the original box and in excellent original condition it is clear that a set is probably worth of the order of 10 times the value of a good quality original 1928 striking.
I have seen individual proof halfpennies and a penny being offered which have been 1961 restrikes - as far as I am aware the halfpenny and penny are the only denominations that have been offered separately.
© 2025 - Copyright
John
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Stafford-Langan
Version 1.20
24th December 2025