Irish Coins & Tokens
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Irish / American (Colonial)
Halfpennies&
Farthings
WI-7126:
1682
Irish-American St Patrick Copper Farthing.
Brass anti counterfeiting plug very much in
situ with excellent detail both sides.
No damage or repairs. Spink 6569. Struck on a large flan (25mm diameter). This is possibly the best grade example I
have ever handled. Collectors of this
issue will be aware that they were struck in
WI-6648: 1722 Type 1 Irish
American William Wood Copper Halfpenny.
About VF.
Rare in this grade, rarer still being this first
issue. £355
WI-5627: 1760 Irish “VOCE
POPULI” Copper Halfpenny. Type 9. Ex Colin Cooke collection.
£320
WI-5629: 1760 Irish “VOCE
POPULI” Copper Halfpenny. Type 4. Ex Colin Cooke collection.
£325
Irish "Confederate Catholics" Kilkenny Issues
WI-5485: 1642-44 Charles 1st Irish
Confederate Catholics Issue Halfpenny.
Struck in Kilkenny by the Irish
Catholics who remained loyal to Charles 1st. It was a very crude issue (shape, die and
strike) with very few examples surviving due to the nature of the metal. A rare early Irish coin. £425
Irish The Great
Rebellion, Coinages of the Lords Justices Issue - "Ormonde
Money"
WI-7196:
Irish Charles 1st
“Great Rebellion” Hammered Silver Ormonde TWOPENCE. Issued by the Lords Justices at
Irish James II Civil War Issues - "Gun Money"
Shillings
WI-5443: 1689 Irish Gun Money
Shilling. Struck
August 1689. After fleeing from England to
France in 1688 – an effective abdication from the English throne – James II
landed in Ireland March 1689 in order to promote his Catholic cause, something
we are perhaps still living with today?!
He had insufficient funds to prosecute this war so the plan was to raise
money by issuing base metal coinage in place of what would previously have been
silver issues. This was a less subtle
example of the Quantitative Easing that we all witnessed a few years ago. If today’s money had still been based on the
value of the coin in your hand being worth its face value in precious metal,
then the Chancellor in 2009 would perhaps have done something very similar! This coinage was set up with an intention for
them to be exchanged for sterling coinage once the dust had settled. This never happened. The metal for these coins came from old
cannon, bells and various other scrap metals that were termed “Gun Money”. £95
WI-6663: 1689 Irish Gun Money
Shilling. Struck
January 1689. This is the rare
Spink 6581MM – ERA for FRA error. After fleeing from England to
France in 1688 – an effective abdication from the English throne – James II
landed in Ireland March 1689 in order to promote his Catholic cause, something
we are perhaps still living with today?!
He had insufficient funds to prosecute this war so the plan was to raise
money by issuing base metal coinage in place of what would previously have been
silver issues. This was a less subtle
example of the Quantitative Easing that we all witnessed a few years ago. If today’s money had still been based on the
value of the coin in your hand being worth its face value in precious metal,
then the Chancellor in 2009 would perhaps have done something very similar! This coinage was set up with an intention for
them to be exchanged for sterling coinage once the dust had settled. This never happened. The metal for these coins came from old
cannon, bells and various other scrap metals that were termed “Gun Money”. £135
Sixpences
WI-7382:
1689 Irish Civil
War Emergency Coinage “Gun Money” Sixpence.
Struck in
Irish James II Civil War Issues - "Pewter Money"
WI-7394:
1690 Irish James
II Emergency Pewter Money Penny. Issued as part of the Gun Money Civil War coinage, but very much on
the tail-end when the supply of “latten” or scrap base metal was very in dire
shortage. Things were getting so
bad that a warrant was issued for the coining of two guns (presumably obsolete
ones) from
Irish James II Civil War Issues - "Siege of
WI-6888: 1691 (this coin undated –
read on!) Limerick Besieged Copper Irish Halfpenny.
Obverse:
1.
The central crown of the reverse gun money host coin can clearly be seen,
inverted 180 degrees.
2.
The V is IACOBVS is an inverted A whereas it was a definite V on the obverse
die itself.
Reverse:
1.
The king's hair of the host coin can clearly be seen, again inverted 180
degrees.
2.
There is no date (1691) whatsoever as IACOBVS (and note the V is a V, not an
inverted A) still remains.
3.
The N of HIBERNIA, always inverted on the die, looks more like an A with a
vertical line to the right.
A
truly unique and extremely interesting coin!
Spink 6594.
£465
WSC-7163:
1691 Irish
“Limerick Besieged” James II Copper Halfpenny.
"Hammered" Coinage
WSC-7162:
Irish King John
Hammered Silver Medieval Penny. Third “Rex” coinage, circa 1208/9 – 1211/12.
WI-5929: Irish Henry III Hammered
Silver Voided Long Cross Penny. Class 1b, RICARD of
WMH-7244:
Henry III
Hammered Silver Irish Penny. Type IIa, RICARD.ON.DIVE –
WI-5519: Irish Edward I Hammered
Silver Penny.
Edward IV
Sun & Roses Issue
WI-5279: Irish Edward IV Hammered
Silver Penny. Sun & Rose type,
1479 – 1483. Strong
portrait, some legend remaining.
Interesting die flaw on obverse. Burns’ S-2 Dublin.
£225
Cross & Pellets “HEAVY” issue
Pence
WI-6304: Irish Edward IV
Hammered Silver Penny. Standard
cross & pellets issue but the rarer Heavy coinage of 1465-70. Extra pellet in two of the
reverse quarters. DV on reverse
signifies Dublin
mint. It is thought that these coins
were not always heavily clipped, rather they were full
size dies struck on very short flans. This one less short than most. Old,
detailed ticket. A very strong portrait being slightly better than the Spink plate
coin. £145
WI-5866: Irish Edward IV Hammered
Silver Penny. Rarer
Heavy coinage of 1465-70. No
obverse marks. Bust C, likely Dublin mint. £65
Cross & Pellets “LIGHT” issue
Groats
WI-6607: Irish
Edward IV Hammered Silver Groat. Light Cross & Pellets coinage of 1472-78. G on breast (Mint Master Germyn Lynch),
WI-7204:
Medieval Irish
Edward IV Hammered Silver Groat. Second reign, third “Light” coinage of 1473. Rarer
WI-7276:
Edward IV
Medieval IRISH Hammered Silver Groat.
Third light cross & pellets issue of 1473 only. A later,
Pence
WI-5878: Irish Edward IV Hammered Silver
Penny.
WI-5879: Irish Edward IV Hammered Silver
Penny.
WI-5920: Irish Edward IV Hammered
Silver Penny. Light cross & pellets
issue of 1470-78. Burns’
DU-6,
WI-5967: Irish Edward IV Hammered
Silver Penny. Light cross &
pellets issue of 1470-78. Burns’ DU-6,
WI-6498: Irish Edward IV Hammered
Silver Penny. Light cross &
pellets issue of 1470-78. Burns’ DU-22,
WI-7283:
A++ Edward IV
Medieval Irish Hammered Silver Penny.
Second reign, third “Light” cross & pellets coinage of 1473
only. Rarer
Fitzgeralds of Kildare “Geraldine” Issue (1487)
WI-7012:
Irish Hammered
Silver “Three Crowns” Geraldine Groat.
August to October 1487 only. Struck under the Fitzgeralds
of Kildare,
a powerful family who took control for a brief period after Lambert Simnel’s abortive attempt to win the crown (after Richard
III, preceding Henry VII). Spink 6432. An extremely rare issue in
lower grade and virtually unheard of in this VF grade. Sold with a detailed
information slip. Choice. £1,450
Richard III
WI-7148:
Richard III
Hammered Silver Irish Penny. Cross & Pellets coinage of 1483-5.
Henry VII
WI-7030: Irish Henry VII Hammered
Silver *CHOICE* Groat. Late portrait issue of 1496-1505.
WI-6912: Irish Henry VII Hammered
Silver “Three Crowns” Groat. 1485-97, this is the earliest type and also
the rarer of the two varieties normally seen – DOMINVS hYBERNIE
both sides. Spink
6415. Further, this coin has the
legend starting at
Henry VIII
WI-7266:
Irish Henry
VIII Hammered Silver Groat. Issued in commemoration of Henry’s marriage to Jane Seymour. Spink 6473. The rarer First (1st) Harp Issue, 1534-40 but this coin dated 1536-7 in commemoration of
Henry’s marriage. Subsequent wives to
see their names (initials) in lights, or specifically on Harp groats, were Anne
Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Anne of Cleves seems to have been overlooked by Henry and by the
time of Catherine Parr, he seemed to have realised that perhaps the coinage
couldn’t keep up with his marriages.
This issue is at 0.842 silver fineness with
later issues going the same way as that of the English silver coinage, ie downhill. See here for old tickets
– ex Spink, ex Bosworth. Rare. £625
WI-7099:
Irish Henry VIII
Hammered Silver Groat. Issued in commemoration of Henry’s marriage to Jane Seymour. Spink 6473. The rarer First (1st) Harp Issue, 1534-40 but this coin dated 1536-7 in commemoration of
Henry’s marriage. Subsequent wives to
see their names (initials) in lights, or specifically on Harp groats, were Anne
Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Anne of Cleves seems to have been overlooked by Henry and by the
time of Catherine Parr, he seemed to have realised that perhaps the coinage
couldn’t keep up with his marriages.
This issue is at 0.842 silver fineness with
later issues going the same way as that of the English silver coinage, ie downhill. This
coin encapsulated (PCGS) and graded VF35.
Rare.
£625
WI-6369: Irish Henry VIII Hammered
Silver Groat. 1540. First (1st) Harp Issue, DOMINVS, “HR”
by harp. Spink 6475. These
groats circulated at 6d during Henry’s reign and were subsequently devalued to
4d during a later reign (those being counterstamped with x4 pellets). Initial mark Trefoil.
With a silver content of 0.758 which although a lot better than the debased
English Third Coinage issues of 1544 onwards, this does illustrate that
debasement of silver was actively in progress in Ireland 4 years before it was
introduced into England. As we all know
for our history lessons at school, Henry VIII led a lavish lifestyle as well as
going to war with Scotland and France.
The country was fiscally challenged and so the idea was to create more
coinage from the same amount of precious metal, resulting in coins often
looking coppery in appearance. Not
really a good way of going about things (although I’m minded of quantitative
easing in recent years!) as the practice led to inflation with the hoarding of
earlier, high silver content coins. The
rarer earlier issue and sold with a very old collector’s ticket (Edward
Watkins). £269
WI-7177:
Irish Henry VIII
Hammered Silver Groat or Fourpence. First “Harp” issue
(1534-40) but right at the very end – Spink 6475 – which is dated to 1540 only. The earlier 1st issue coins were
all dedicated to three wives of Henry but as a pattern was emerging, this
practise stopped, although the change of wives clearly did not. This last 1st issue is the rarest,
being rarer than all the wife issues.
Interestingly, 1st issue coins are at a 0.842 fineness (typically
in the
WI-6906: Irish Henry VIII “Harp”
Groat. Second (2nd)
Harp issue, Spink 6479. These groats
circulated at 6d during Henry’s reign and were subsequently devalued to 4d
during a later reign (those being counterstamped with x4 pellets). Initial mark Trefoil.
With a silver content of 0.758 which although a lot better than the debased
English Third Coinage issues of 1544 onwards, this does illustrate that
debasement of silver was actively in progress in Ireland up to x4 years before
it was introduced into England. As we
all know for our history lessons at school, Henry VIII led a lavish lifestyle
as well as going to war with Scotland and France. The country was fiscally challenged and so
the idea was to create more coinage from the same amount of precious metal,
resulting in coins often looking coppery in appearance. Not really a good way of going about things
(although I’m minded of quantitative easing in recent years!) as the practice
led to inflation with the hoarding of earlier, high silver content coins. This coin particularly nice
grade with an old ticket shown here. It would be nice to think you could buy this
coin for the £24 stated but alas, you can’t as this was the price in the 1970’s! £325
WI-6394: Irish Henry VIII Hammered
Silver Groat. 1543. Third (3rd)
Harp Issue, i.m. rose. “HR” by harp. Nice grade.
£225
WI-6849: Henry VIII Posthumous
(struck under Edward VI) IRISH Hammered Silver Threepence. In the name of Henry but struck after his
death, under his son, Edward VI. This is
the last issue, type IV, with the Tower bust – it is thought a lot of these
Irish coins were actually struck using dies made in England. Spink 6491. A rarer denomination and a coin in very nice
grade indeed, especially considering this was the billon or “watered down
silver” period (it actually got worse in Ireland in 1552 with some coins being
so debased that they looked like copper coins!). £700 in VF in the very
outdated Spink price guide. £395
Edward VI
WI-6395: Irish Henry VIII Dublin
Hammered Threepence. Actually struck under Edward
VI, 1547-50. Type
IV,
WI-6426: Irish Edward VI, struck
under Henry VIII, Dublin Hammered Sixpence.
Struck under Edward VI, 1547-50. Type IV,
Philip & Mary
WI-5778: 1555 Philip & Mary
Irish Facing Busts Shilling. Debased
hammered silver - nice grade for this usually poor issue. £325
WI-5363: 1556 Philip & Mary
Irish Facing Busts Groat. Debased
hammered silver - nice grade for this usually poor issue. £325
Elizabeth 1st
WI-7348:
1558 Irish
Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Groat - Choice. Base coinage of 1558 with
0.250 silver fineness. Initial mark Rose, Spink 6504. This first issue was very much a continuation
of the previous base issues - it took until 1561 for the “Fine Silver” coinage
to be issued. This coin is mint state –
virtually “As Struck”, although to the initiated, it may not appear that
way. This is an example of the finest known Irish 1555
Philip & Mary shilling to give you some idea as to how good this groat
is. The billon nature of this coin
defeated my usual camera, although I still include that image here. The main image is via a cheap camera phone in
artificial light. Choice. £1,950
WI-7140:
1558 Elizabeth 1st
Irish Hammered Billon Silver Groat.
First issue, preceding the 1561 fine silver issue, at
0.250 silver content. Spink
6504. Ex
Walter Wilkinson collection, accompanied by all his tickets. The Walter Wilkinson collection was one of
the best collections of Elizabeth 1st coinage ever put
together. Throughout the long life of
the collection, Walter was constantly buying in better grade examples to
improve the collection. This coin is a
superb example which I have certainly not shown through my poor images. It’s a VF coin, regardless of the atrocious
nature of the issue in general and the provenance is as good as it gets. £575
WI-6671: 1558 Irish Elizabeth 1st
Hammered Billon Silver Groat. Base issue of 1558 only.
Spink 6504.
Very good grade for issue. £185
WI-5542: 1601 Irish Elizabeth 1st
Hammered Copper Penny. Initial mark Star and on a generous planchets. Most of these coins come out of the ground
(it is interesting to note that examples have been unearthed from the Jamestown
site in America, along with later James 1st hammered silver coinage)
and as a result the copper corrodes. The entire Third Issue of Irish
coinage, 1601-02 only, was an emergency issue brought about by the need to pay
the large numbers of soldiers who were in
WI-5575: 1602 Irish Elizabeth 1st
Hammered Copper Penny. Initial mark Martlet. Most of these coins come out of the ground
(it is interesting to note that examples have been unearthed from the Jamestown
site in America, along with later James 1st hammered silver coinage)
and as a result the copper corrodes. The entire Third Issue of Irish
coinage, 1601-02 only, was an emergency issue brought about by the need to pay
the large numbers of soldiers who were in
WI-7210:
1601-02
Elizabeth 1st Hammered Silver Sixpence. Struck at the very tail end of the reign in
order to pay the troops
James 1st
WI-5595: Irish James 1st Hammered
Silver 6d. 1604-7, initial mark rose
so 1606 – 1607. An extremely good grade
example of a usually poorly struck obverse issue. £265
Pre 1800 "Milled" Coinage
Charles II
WI-7307:
1681 Charles II SILVER
Proof Irish Halfpenny. Armstrong & Legge’s regal coinage
issue of 1680-84. The coinage was
split into two types: large and small lettering. This is a silver proof for the small letter
1681 issue – the only other silver proof in the entire series is the 1680 large
letter halfpenny. 1681 small letters
(Spink 6575) is extremely rare with, I think, only one example known, which may
well be a copper trial piece using the silver proof dies. Slabbed by PCGS and
grade PR53, which I understand to mean “Proof , about Uncirculated”
– the AU grading system goes down to 50, at which point in becomes “Extremely
Fine”, eg EF45.
At the risk of disagreeing with an American multi national company, this
coin is clearly not uncirculated, although don’t be
fooled by the obverse and reverse flat areas because to a point, these were
built into the dies. It’s a bit better
than VF. Choice. £2,985
WI-7211:
1681 Charles II
Copper Irish Halfpenny. An excellent
grade coin, especially so when you appreciate just how soft the copper
was. Armstrong & Legge’s regal coinage. Interestingly, pre 1680 (the first Armstrong
& Legge date),
James II
WI-7139:
1685 Irish James
II Copper Halfpenny. The regular issue (before the Gun Money issues), under Sir John
Knox, Lord Mayor of
WI-5950: 1686 Irish James II
Copper Halfpenny. Regular
coinage issue (prior to the Civil War).
Nice grade for issue. Spink 6576. £95
WI-6766: 1688 Irish James II Copper
Halfpenny. Regular
coinage issue (prior to the Civil War).
Nice grade for issue and the rarest of the x4 dates, apart from 1687
where virtually non are extant. Sold with old tickets. Spink 6576. £165
William & Mary
WI-6725: 1692 William & Mary
Conjoined Busts Copper Halfpenny – High Grade. A
WI-6934: 1693 William & Mary
Conjoined Busts Copper Halfpenny – High Grade. A
WI-6678: 1694 William & Mary
Conjoined Busts Copper Halfpenny – an unrecorded error. A
WI-7340:
1694 Irish
William & Mary *High Grade* Copper Halfpenny. Struck at
William III
WI-5991: 1696 Irish William III
Copper Halfpenny. 1696 was the only
year William III struck the halfpenny and the halfpenny was the ONLY
denomination issued. This coin is better
than the Spink plate coin (S.6598) which tells you it is extremely good grade
for issue. £225
Post 1800 Coinage
1d’s
WI-5853: Irish 1805 George III
Large Copper Penny.
1/2d’s
WI-5623: 1805 Irish
Copper Halfpenny. Ex
Colin Cooke collection. £95
WI-6548: 1805 Irish GILT-PROOF
Copper Halfpenny. Plain
edge, EF or better. £265
1/4d’s
WI-5922: 1806 Irish Copper
Farthing. Toned. £29
Irish Communion Tokens
WI-5590: Mid 1800’s IRISH Church
Communion Token. Presbyterian
Church of