The sixpence (6d; ga, réal or ) coin was a subdivision of the pre-decimal
Irish pound
The pound ( Irish: ) was the currency of the Republic 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 c ...
, worth of a pound or of a
shilling. The Irish name is derived from the
Spanish ; for most of the 19th century, a
pound sterling was equal to five
U.S. dollars, and a dollar was equal to eight , so that a was equal to of a pound. The
variant spelling was used in the Coinage Act 1926, and appeared on the coins themselves even after
a 1947 spelling reform established as the
standard Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object ...
.
The coin was originally struck in
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with 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 slow ...
, like the
threepence coin, and was very well wearing. The metal was changed to
cupronickel
Cupronickel or copper-nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. ( Monel is a nickel-copper alloy that contains a minim ...
in 1942 as nickel increased in value; this coin, which consisted of 75%
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) 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 ...
and 25% nickel, was not as well-wearing. The coin measured in diameter and a weighed 4.53593
gram
The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram.
Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to ...
s.
Five early coins were minted featuring a design by Publio Morbiducci, which depict the
Wolfhound's head looking back; these coins are quite valuable, estimated at several thousand
euro
The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
– they remain in the hands of
collectors
Collector(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Collector (character), a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe
* ''Collector'' (2011 film), a 2011 Indian Malayalam film
* ''Collector'' (2016 film), a 2016 Russian film
* ''Collec ...
and were never released to
circulation
Circulation may refer to:
Science and technology
* Atmospheric circulation, the large-scale movement of air
* Circulation (physics), the path integral of the fluid velocity around a closed curve in a fluid flow field
* Circulatory system, a bio ...
.
The general design of the coin was by English artist
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 a ...
. His designs had been selected by a panel from those submitted by a number of sculptors who had been invited to create designs for the coinage of the new Irish Free State. The brief for the design of the sixpence was that it feature an Irish Wolfhound. 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 gre ...
. From 1928 to 1937 the date was split either side of the harp with the name ''
Saorstát Éireann
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between the ...
'' circling around. From 1938 to 1969 the inscription changed to ''
Éire
() is Irish for "Ireland", the name of both an island in the North Atlantic and the sovereign state of the Republic of Ireland which governs 84% of the island's landmass. The latter is distinct from Northern Ireland, which covers the remaind ...
'' on the left of the harp and the date on the right. It has been suggested by some that the dog depicted is
Master McGrath, a famous coursing greyhound raised in County Waterford. Although the frieze of Master McGrath on the Master McGrath monument in Waterford, the only public monument in Ireland to a greyhound, does bear some similarity to Metcalfe's design, there is no evidence to suggest that the animal on the coin is anything other than a wolfhound, as greyhounds are not native to Ireland.
It was expected that this coin would circulate alongside the new decimal coins, with a value of
new pence as in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. With this in mind the
Central Bank of Ireland
The Central Bank of Ireland ( ga, Banc Ceannais na hÉireann) is Ireland's central bank, and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It is the country's financial services regulator for most categories of financial fi ...
continued to have the coin minted, last dated 1969, while minting decimal coins. However, the coin ended up being withdrawn instead, never to become a decimal-based coin; it remains the last pre-decimal coin to come off the production run. In 1990 it was announced that the
decimal penny would be redesigned to incorporate the wolfhound design,
but this plan was abandoned in the face of the imminent adoption of the Euro.
See also
*
£sd
£sd (occasionally written Lsd, spoken as "pounds, shillings and pence" or pronounced ) is the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies once common throughout Europe, especially in the British Isles and hence in several countries of the ...
References
External links
Coinage Act, 1926Irish Coinage website – catalogue – sixpence
{{Irish currency and coinage
sixpence coin