The half crown (2s 6d) () coin was a subdivision of the pre-decimal

Irish pound The pound ( Irish: ) was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or £Ir for distinction.) The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin circulation unti ...

, worth of a pound. The half crown was commonly called "two and six" due to its value of two

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

s and sixpence (indicated on the coin itself as '2s 6d'). The original minting of the coin from 1928 to 1943 contained 75%

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

, a higher content than the equivalent British coin. The silver coins were quite distinguishable as they had a whiter appearance than the later

cupronickel Cupronickel or copper–nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper with nickel, usually along with small quantities of other metals added for strength, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. ( Monel is a n ...

variety minted from 1951. The silver coins wore less well. The subsequent cupronickel coin was 75%

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and 25%

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

. The coin measured in diameter and weighed 14.1 grams. The reverse design of the coin, by

Percy Metcalfe Percy Metcalfe, CVO, RDI (14 January 1895 Wakefield – 9 October 1970 Fulham Hospital, Hammersmith, London), (often spelled ''Metcalf'' without "e") was an English artist, sculptor and designer. He is recognised mostly for his coin designs ...

featured an Irish Hunter, a breed of horse. This design was used later for the twenty pence coin issued in 1986. The obverse featured the

Irish harp The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton and in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring gr ...

. From 1928 to 1937 the date was split either side of the harp with the name ''

Saorstát Éireann The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

'' circling around. From 1938 to 1967 the inscription changed to ''

Éire ( , ) is the Irish language name for "Ireland". Like its English counterpart, the term is used for both the island of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the sovereign state that governs 85% of the island's landmass. The latter is distinc ...

'' on the left of the harp and the date on the right. The last half crowns were produced in 1967 and the coin was withdrawn from circulation on 1 January 1970. The horse design was reused on the decimal

20p coin The British decimal twenty pence coin (often shortened to 20p in writing and speech) is a denomination of sterling coinage worth of a pound. Like the 50p coin, it is an equilateral curve heptagon. Its obverse has featured the profile of the ...

introduced in 1986.

References

External links

Coinage Act, 1926Irish Coinage website - catalogue - halfcrown
{{Irish currency and coinage half-crown coin Crown (currency)

See also

References

External links