Irish Coinage
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Irish Coinage

Information about Irish coins for numismatists, collectors, archaeologists and others who have an interest in the currency in use in Ireland from earliest times to the present day.

Last Update - 19 September, 2010

By John Stafford-Langan

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(Don't bother searching for coins that are not Irish here - The only times that they occur on these pages is when I am drawing a comparison between an Irish coin and a foreign one)

Index

Coins:

Bank Notes:

© 2010 - Copyright
John_Stafford-Langan
Version 1.17a
19th September, 2010

COINS

 Note: (16th November, 2007) I have reworked the Catalog of Modern Irish Coin Prices 1928-1969 entirely.

Featured coin :

Edward IV - 1465 - Heavy Portrait Groat - Dublin

Select the image or description to read about it.

Main Index

These links are to a series of overviews of the coinage of Ireland. They offer further links for 'drill down' detail and they also offer cross links to the catalogue and the high resolution image pages.

I have added this table because it was clear from browsing logs that people did not appreciate that there was a second and even a third level deep within the site. Some of these pages are incomplete - but having put the list here I am further prompted to complete the pages.

Reference links:

Publications on Irish Coinage and Banknotes - Sparse

Catalogue of Irish Coin Prices - Partial

Maintenance links :

High Resolution Irish Coin Picture Indices (these pages have many images - they may take a long time to load if you are on a slow link)

Irish Coinage - Web Site Structure Page (this page is primarily to enable me to get to any page from a single point - it may be useful if you know the site quite well)

If you spot any errors - or want more information on a particular area - or have any general comments on this site please send me an e-mail.

 

SITE HISTORY

This site first appeared on the World Wide Web on 16/Aug/1994 making it one of the oldest coin sites on the Web. I was leading a UNIX support team at the time and was interested in learning HTML soon after it was first developed. I had also just taken the first scans of my coin collection which gave me material for my first HTML trials.

Since then the site has grown considerably with currently over 150 separate pages some of which are very extensive and over 300 images between the in-line images and the high resolution series. In total the site takes about 500 pages of paper to print it out (I haven't tried it all together!) making it a larger reference source of material on Irish coinage than many printed reference books.

So far it is about 25% complete - and several of the completed parts (the catalogues) require regular updating. I estimate the effort involved is about 2,500 hours. The current work rate averages out at about 4hours per week. -- And I wonder why I never have time to complete my book on Edward IV :-).

I believe that it is a worthwhile effort - (confirmations or contradictions will be treated with equal respect).

In the past few years (2003-2007) I have put less effort into these pages - I simply don't have the time available to do as much as I would like to do the work they require - I have a pretty large backlog of pages and coins to add to them.

1st Jan 2002
The Euro has arrived ....

Since January 1st, 2002, the Euro coins and notes have begun circulating in Ireland.

click for Irish Euro Images

I have begun updating the catalogue prices of all Irish coins to reflect the Euro as our standard currency - The introduction of the Euro has increased interest in the Irish coinage and the prices of the decimal coins have begin to rise recently.

Updated : Catalogue of Irish Decimal Coin Prices 1969-2000

I have added a general coin condition grading guide and an initial page with photos of the same coin in various different grades:

Comments please :

Irish Coinage - Grading Guide

Irish Coinage - Grading - Modern Halfcrown Type 2

Most recent updates

2010 - major tidy up and reworking of many detail pages - in preparation for adding some new material.

2008 (I've stopped maintaining a list of changes)

2007 (being pretty lazy recently)

16th November
Major rewrite of the Catalog of Modern Irish Coin Prices 1928-1969 new grades new values, all I need now is new critics.

4th October
Modifications to Modern Catalogue Catalog of Modern Irish Coin Prices 1928-1969

29th March
Added Hi Res image of Edward VI - 1552 - Shilling for Ireland

2006

23rd June
OOPS - forgot to spell check yesterday's work - and there were so many typos !

22nd June
Finally got around to writing a page on the 
1990 'Irish Presidency' Ecu coins

6th June
Further tidying and spell checking
Revised pricing for decimals - was a bit out of date.

29th May
Tidied up structure a bit
General revision and spell check - minor editing
Revised decimal prices (new version not up yet! - sorry)

1st March
Tidied up Henry III
General revision and spell check - minor editing

24th February
Tidied up James I
General revision and spell check - minor editing

23rd February
General revision and spell check
(I am switching to Nvu for editing - which includes a spell check - finally!)

Lucien LaRiviere Sale comment.

20th February
Irish International Coin Fair comment.

12th January
General revision and spell check

2005

19th October
Revised and added varieties to : Catalogue of Irish Coin Prices, Edward I, 1276 - 1302

OOPS !

During this period I was making changes to pages on the site, but didn't realise that the changes to the front page (i.e to this list) were being lost.

It was only when I received an e-mail saying that the site appeared dormant that I realised where I had made the error.  Unfortunately at that time (December 2005) only the most recent change (the 19th October one) was documented in my copy and the list of previous changes was lost.  In theory I could reconstruct the list by referring to the date on the individual pages but as it is only the list of changes that has been lost and not the changes themselves I don't believe this is worth doing.

2004

5th November
Added High Res Image : Charles II halfpenny of 1683 - Small Lettering
Added High Res Image : John as Lord - Halfpenny - Type IIb - Adam, Dublin

1st November
Added High Res Image : Charles II Halfpenny 1680 - Large Date

7th October
Updated Page : The Hiberno-Norse Coinage of Ireland, ~995 to ~1150

6th October
Added a new page : An Irish 18th Century coin scales with its box

5th October
Added a new page : Irish Coin Weights
Added High Res Image :Coin Weight for 8dwt and 16grs from the 1714 standard
Added High Res Image :Coin Weight for 5dwt and 5grs from the 1751 standard
Added High Res Image : Elizabeth I - Copper halfpenny 1601 (mm Star) - only in average condition
Added High Res Image : A penny of Edward I of Dublin (sixth issue)
Added High Res Image : A halfpenny of Edward I of Dublin (sixth issue)
Tidied up : Catalogue of Irish Coin Prices, Edward I ,1276 to 1302
Tidied up : Catalogue of Irish Coin Prices, Edward III & Henry VI

4th October
Added High Res Image : A penny of Edward I of Dublin (fifth issue)

16th March
Added High Res Image : Gunmoney Sixpence 1689 July .

15th March
Added High Res Image : Gunmoney Sixpence 1689 July
Started Gunmoney Catalogue : Catalogue of Irish Coin Prices - Gunmoney - Regular Issues

2003

22 June
Added High Res Image : George III - Penny - 1805
Added High Res Image : Ringmoney - Gold Plated Type
Added High Res Image : 1934 - Florin
Added High Res Image : Hiberno Norse - Phase VI - annulets
Added High Res Image : 1943 Florin - Fake

Split the index into 4 separate indices:

21st June (midsummer)
Added page : Identifying a 'Chickless' Penny

16th June (Bloomsday) :
Added High Res image : James II Gunmoney Large Shilling - Dec 1689 - interesting variety with unbarred A.
Added High Res image : James II Gunmoney Large Shilling - Nov 1689 - interesting flaw in punch relevant to above.

12 June :
Added Image of 1769 type II bust for clarity in catalogue Catalogue of Irish Milled Coin Prices 1766-1823
and Hi Res image page : George III 1769 Halfpenny Type II

8th June (I took a break from pages for a while)
Added High Res Image : 1937 Halfcrown - GEF
Added High Res Image : 1937 Shilling - UNC
Added new Page : 1928 Irish Set (proof strikings - 1961 restrike)

7th February :
Added High Res Image : Wood's Halfpenny - 1722 - Type I

1st February :
Tidied up e-mail addresses - now using :

2002

14th September :
Added High Res Image : Proof Threepence - 1939
Added High Res Image : Proof Threepence - 1950
Added High Res Image : Proof Threepence - 1946
Added High Res Image : Morbiducci Pattern Threepence in Copper
Added High Res Image : Proof Sixpence - 1950
Added High Res Image : Inchiquin - Dublin Money - Crown
Added High Res Image : Elizabeth I - Third Issue Shilling - mm trefoil
Added High Res Image : 1943 Florin - UNC Specimen 2

7 September :
Added High Res Image : Proof Penny - 1963
Added High Res Image : Proof Penny - 1968

1 September :
Further tidy up and spell check.
Added High Res Image : Wood's Halfpenny Type II - 1724 (continuous rev legend)
Added High Res Image : George II Halfpenny - 1741

15 August :
General tidy up and spell check - new version 1.10
Added a Glossary of Numismatic Terms (currently very sparse)

26 February :
Added High Res Image : 1943 Halfcrown (a lovely example)
Added page : Identifying a 1961 Mule Halfcrown

3 February :
Added High Res Image : Armstrong Farthing circa 1660
Added High Res Image : St Patrick's Farthing (nice example)
Updated : Catalogue of Irish Milled Coin Prices 1660-1688 - to include Armstrong farthings
Updated : Irish Milled Coinage (1680 - 1823)
Modified : Irish Coinage - Structure Page - added new pages

30 January :
Revised Catalogue of Irish Decimal Coin Prices 1969-2000
Changed prices on Irish Decimal Coins for Sale to reflect costs of replacement stock
Changed prices on Irish Euro Coins for Sale to reflect costs of replacement stock
modified Terms and Conditions in How to Buy

12 January :
Turned off the shopping cart because the shipping costs were wrong.

7 January :
Modified the Terms and Conditions : How to Buy
Added a Site History Page
and further updated : Irish Coinage of Edward IV Part I (1460 to 1470)

5 January :
Added : Edward IV Titled Crown Groat, 1463 - Waterford
and updated : Irish Coinage of Edward IV Part I (1460 to 1470)

4 January :
Added Official Irish Euro Set to Irish Euro Coins for Sale

3 January :
Added Paypal Shopping cart to some items for sale: How to Buy

2 January :
Updated : Catalogue of Irish Decimal Coin Prices 1969-2000
(added decimal coin sets)
Added : List of Irish Coins for Sale

1 January :
Added : Irish Euro Images

This list continues in the Site History Page