Irish Coins & Tokens
-------->Remember, postage is included<--------
Irish / American (Colonial)
Halfpennies&
Farthings
WI-7126:
1674
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) but still termed “Small Size”. This was possibly the best grade example I
had ever handled until WI-7576 came my way!
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-7575:
Rare Type 1
1722 George 1st Irish William Wood’s Copper Halfpenny. Slabbed
under NGC and graded by them as AU 50, meaning about Uncirculated. Spink 6600. Extra images here and here. Rare in this grade, rarer
still being this first issue. Incidentally,
when you visit the NGC page for this coin, it states that the current market
value, something it helpfully does for all NGC slabbed
coins, is £658, although bizarly, EF grade in Spink
2020 is £1,200 in EF and NGC seem to think this coin is a grade above EF?! Contemporary planchet faults at
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
Irish The Great
Rebellion, Coinages of the Lords Justices Issue - "Ormonde
Money"
Irish James II Civil War Issues - "Gun
Money"
Crowns
WI-7550:
1690 Irish Gun Money
Full Crown. James
II emergency Civil War coinage of 1689-91. Spink 6578. Overstruck on the large Gun Money halfcrowns
as by 1690, these were obsolete; replaced by the small size halfcrowns. The obverse of the Gun Money crown (and it is
just the crowns) has similarities to the earlier Charles 1st
halfcrowns and crowns, which I’m sure was far from accidental. It won’t have escaped readers’ attention that
Gun Money coinage is currently riding high in terms of popularity. 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. 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”. £285
WI-7662:
1690 Irish Gun
Money Full Crown. James
II emergency Civil War coinage of 1689-91. Spink 6578. Overstruck on the large Gun Money halfcrowns - some
original halfcrown detail still evident on the reverse – as by 1690, these were
obsolete; replaced by the small size halfcrowns. The obverse of the Gun Money crown (and it is
just the crowns) has similarities to the earlier Charles 1st
halfcrowns and crowns, which I’m sure was far from accidental. It won’t have escaped readers’ attention that
Gun Money coinage is currently riding high in terms of popularity. 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. 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”. Ex Spink with very dark toning and dirt
illustrating that this coin has not been cleaned. £365
Halfcrowns
WI-7675:
1690 (May) James II Irish
Gun Money Half Crown. Small-sized halfcrown.
Spink 6580c.
WI-7482: March 1689 Irish Gun Money
Half Crown. A unique example of an
Irish coin dated by year AND month! 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”. £115
WI-7660:
1690 (May) James II Irish
Gun Money Half Crown. Small-sized halfcrown.
Spink 6580c.
WI-7661:
1690 (August) James II
Irish Gun Money Half Crown. Large-sized halfcrown.
Spink 6579b.
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”. £225
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-7732: 1689 Irish Gun Money
Shilling under James II. Struck March 1689. Spink 6581J. 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-7733: 1689 Irish Gun Money
Shilling under James II. Struck September 1689.
Spink 6581C.
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”. £145
Sixpences
WI-7382:
1689 Irish Civil
War Emergency Coinage “Gun Money” Sixpence.
Struck in
WI-7659:
1689 (November) James II
Irish Gun Money Sixpence. Rarer denomination. Spink 6583f. 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”. £165
WI-7734: 1689 Irish Gun Money
SIXPENCE under James II. Struck January 1689. Spink 6583H. 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”. The sixpence is a rarer denomination. £195
Irish James II Civil War Issues - "Pewter Money"
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
WI-7727: John, as King of Ireland,
Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. Another image here using a
different camera and a less invasive light source. Third REX coinage, circa
1199 - 1216.
WI-7728: John, as King of Ireland,
Medieval Hammered Silver Halfpenny. Third REX coinage, circa 1199 - 1216.
WI-5929: Irish Henry III Hammered
Silver Voided Long Cross Penny.
Class 1b, RICARD of
WI-7244:
Henry III
Hammered Silver Irish Penny. Type IIa, RICARD.ON.DIVE –
Pennies
Halfpennies
WI-7856: Irish Edward 1st Hammered
Silver Rarer Round Halfpenny. Second
EDW coinage, late issue of 1297-1302.
Closed C and E with tall, narrow crown and no pellet
on the breast. Class IVb, Spnk 6267A. Rarer issue. £175 RESERVED (M.He
Farthings
WI-7658:
Edward 1st
Medieval Irish Hammered Silver Round Farthing. Early issues of 1279-84 (open C and E).
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-7276:
Edward IV
Medieval IRISH Hammered Silver Groat.
A very interesting coin, being to all intents and
purposes a Second Reign, third light cross & pellets issue
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 1473-79. Burns’ DU-6,
WI-5967: Irish Edward IV Hammered
Silver Penny. Light cross &
pellets issue of 1473-79. Burns’ DU-6,
WI-6498: Irish Edward IV Hammered
Silver Penny. Light cross &
pellets issue of 1473-79. Burns’ DU-22,
WI-7283:
A++ Edward IV
Medieval Irish Hammered Silver Penny.
Second reign, third “Light” cross & pellets coinage of 1473
only. Rarer
WI-7831: Unrecorded Irish Edward IV
Hammered Silver Penny. Light cross
& pellets issue of 1473-79.
Henry VII
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.
WI-7868:
Henry VII Irish
Hammered Silver Early Tudfor Groat. Late portrait issue coinage
of 1496-1505. "CIVI
TAS DVBL InIE" reading -
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-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, 1543 only. 0.833 silver
fineness, which interestingly, in view of Henry VIII’s
penchant for progressively reducing the silver content of his coinage
throughout the reign, is actually a HIGHER silver content compared to the
Second Harp issue of 1540-42. Rest
assured though, the fourth issue was 0.666, the fifth 0.500 and the sixth
0.250. Initial mark
Tudor Rose. Spink
6481. Nice grade. £225
WI-7735: 1543 Henry VIII Irish
Hammered Silver Harp Groat. Third Harp
issue, 1543
only. 0.833 silver
fineness, which interestingly, in view of Henry VIII’s
penchant for progressively reducing the silver content of his coinage throughout
the reign, is actually a HIGHER silver content compared to the Second Harp
issue of 1540-42. Rest assured though,
the fourth issue was 0.666, the fifth 0.500 and the sixth 0.250. Initial mark Tudor Rose. Spink 6481. A very nice grade coin indeed, possibly
edging the Spink plate coin. £395 RESERVED
(M.He
Edward VI
WI-6395: Irish Henry VIII Dublin
Hammered Threepence. Actually struck under
Edward VI, 1547-50. Type IV,
WI-7915:
Irish Edward VI Hammered
Base Metal BUNGAL Issue. Young
crowned bust of Edward VI facing right; garnished arms on the reverse. Spink 6494A. These are said to be contemporary
counterfeits of the day that were shipped out to
Philip & Mary
WI-5778: 1555 Philip & Mary
Irish Facing Busts Shilling. Debased
(0.250 fineness issue) hammered silver - nice grade for this usually poor
issue. £325
WI-5363: 1556 Philip & Mary
Irish Facing Busts Groat. Debased
(0.250 fineness issue) hammered silver - nice grade for this usually poor
issue. £325
WI-7898:
1557 Philip
& Mary Irish Tudor Hammered Billon Silver Groat. Debased
(0.250 fineness issue) hammered silver - nice grade for this usually poor
issue. Two old tickets going back to
1973 and 1974 - see here
and here. Re the slip ticket: for "chipped", please read
"clipped". £275
Elizabeth 1st
Sixpences
WI-7210:
1601-02 Elizabeth
1st Hammered Silver Sixpence.
Struck at the very tail end of the reign in order to pay the troops
WI-7838: 1601-02 Elizabeth 1st
Hammered Silver Sixpence. Struck at
the very tail end of the reign in order to pay the troops
Groats
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
THREEPENCES
WI-7923:
Elizabeth 1st Hammered
Billon Silver Threepence - Emergency War Money. Third (base) coinage of
1601-02 with silver at 3oz fine. Initial mark Star, Spink 6509. The entire
Third Issue of Irish coinage was an emergency issue brought about by the need
to pay the large numbers of soldiers who were in £945
Pennies
WI-7839: 1601 Irish Elizabeth 1st
Hammered Copper Penny. Initial mark Star.
Most of these coins come out of the ground (it is interesting to note
that examples have been unearthed from the
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),
WI-7414: 1683 High Grade Irish
Charles II Copper Halfpenny. Armstrong & Legge’s Regal Coinage,
Spink 6575. Easily
VF for issue (£400 in Spink 2020).
Sold with a detailed information slip. £285
James II
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-7340:
1694 Irish
William & Mary *High Grade* Copper Halfpenny. Struck at
William III
Post 1800 Coinage
1d’s
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