Comparing the woodcock on the Irish farthing and on the Irish 50 pence

Started by <k>, February 27, 2020, 12:00:37 AM

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Which Metcalfe design was better suited to the Irish 50 pence?

The woodcock from the farthing
The horse from the half crown
I have no preference

<k>



The reverse of the irish farthing.




Though this is a large image, the Irish farthing was only 20.3 mm in diameter.
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<k>



The reverse of the Irish 50 pence coin.




When Ireland decimalised, the woodcock design was placed on the 50 pence coin. By this time, the old farthing had been demonetised for several years, so there was no chance of mistaking the two coins.

You can see that the woodcock's head is tilted higher up on the 50 pence.
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<k>





Interestingly, over in the UK, Britannia had moved from the lowly pre decimal penny to the decimal 50 pence. So both the woodcock and Britannia were promoted in value.

However, in Ireland they had originally wanted to use the horse design from the half crown and pit it on the 50 pence.




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<k>





In my opinion, the horse would have looked better on the 50 pence, but the Irish were not satisfied and they wanted to go with the woodcock instead.

However, the Irish felt, when they saw the result, that too much of the surface of the fifty pence was left bare. The Royal Mint asked Christopher Ironside to come up with some ideas, so he added an ornamental border to the edge of the design.
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<k>





The Irish decided that they did not like the ornamental border, nor were they particularly happy with the design as it stood, but they recognised that time was running short, so they did not request any further amendments. The Royal Mint documents record that the woodcock was shifted slightly to the left, compared with its position on the original farthing design.
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<k>

Which do you think would have looked better on the 50 pence: the woodcock or the horse? I have added a poll.
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brandm24

I like the woodcock on the 50 pence because of the openness and the clean simple look it affords. The horse is too large and seems shoehorned into the design.  While I love the image, it just looks too crowded on the coin. I also don't like the proposed border...it does nothing for the overall look. Fortunately, it was scrapped.

Bruce
Always Faithful

<k>

Neither is a great fit. For my liking, there was indeed too much blank space on the woodcock 50 pence. The version with the border was pretty awful, though, I agree.
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Figleaf

When the original barnyard series was introduced, the designs were original, creative and in a fashionable style. When the 50p was introduced, those same designs were decades old, in a style that had been overtaken and animals/plants on coins were common to the point where an ant could appear on a circulation coin.

Meanwhile, original decorative art figures large in Irish history and it can easily be made to look modern. I would have liked a new design in the style of the small decimal coppers, with a view of phasing out the remaining holdover designs as the novelty of decimalisation wore off.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.