(http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=8912.0;attach=11977;image)
Ireland: One pound, 1990. Irish red deer: Cervus elaphus.
The design is by Irish artist Thomas Ryan and depicts a stag: the male of the species.
Meanwhile, Percy Metcalfe died in October 1970, aged 75, only a few months before decimalisation, and Gabriel Hayes died in 1978, aged 69. The decimal halfpenny, which bore one of Miss Hayes’ designs, was demonetised on January 1 1985. Ireland added a 20p to the standard coinage on October 30 1986. Unlike the UK 20p, this was a round nickel-brass coin, which proudly bore Metcalfe’s old horse design. A pound coin was introduced in June 1990. Unlike its UK counterpart, it was a large, thin cupro-nickel coin, 31mm in diameter. The Irish Ministry of Finance thought that a high denomination deserved a suitably large coin. The reverse, created by Irish artist Thomas Ryan in the style of Percy Metcalfe, featured a beautiful new design of a red deer, and the new coin blended seamlessly into the existing set.