The coinage of the Irish Free State

[<k>]

The Irish half penny and penny were the first modern coins to portray an animal mother and children. To my knowledge, this concept did not appear again until the issue of the Malawi florin in 1964.




The design was retained on the decimal 20 tambala of 1971, and it appears to this day on Malawi's 10 kwacha coin.


See also: Animal mother and child.

   

[<k>]

Tonga, 5 seniti, 1975.




Tonga, 1 seniti, 1975.

The animal mother and child theme surfaced again on Tonga's new design series of 1975. The pig and the hen and chicks designs of this FAO-themed circulation set seemed to pay direct homage to Metcalfe's predecimal Irish designs.

 

[<k>]

When Ireland went decimal - a staged process from 1969 to 1971 - the Metcalfe designs were retained on the higher denominations only. Even now that Ireland has adopted the euro, and the sole national design on its coins is the harp, the Irish still seem nostalgic for the old barnyard designs, and some of these have been adapted and reused on collector coins, though not on any of the circulation coins. The old predecimal coins of Ireland are now long gone and retired, but their influence lives on.

[chrisild]

Very interesting! Thanks, I had never seen any of those designs (the ones that "did not make it") before. Of the minted designs, the sow with the piglets is my favorite.   By the way, the sculptor Ivan Meštrović was supposed to participate in the design competition too. But he did not get the invitation in time. In 2007 the central bank issued a collector coin to commemorate the 80th anniversary of his harp design - see here (PDF in English and Croatian), particularly the second page.

Guess that, due to the bad timing, Meštrović did not get to design any "animal sides". And maybe that was not all that bad - actually Metcalfe's designs were and are almost timeless. They were great in the 1920s, and I think they would still be appealing today. But apparently the Irish government later insisted on using the harp as the only design element on each and every denomination ...

Christian

[Figleaf]

This is most excellent stuff, <k>. Thank you. Your point, that the barnyard series broke through the head-and-heraldics tradition is well taken, but I agree with chrisild that Metcalfe brought an extra dimension to the design by going for strength of design, rather than natural detail. My favourite sculptor, Botero, may have found inspiration here, four decades later.

Another point is the remark of the journalist of the Manchester Guardian:

I doubt if any country but Ireland would have had the imagination and freedom to lay down the conditions that would have made such designs possible.

Indeed, Ireland had a need to break away from the past, yet show its essence. That gave it unprecedented freedom, but also a duty to come up with something creative and intelligent. We owe these spectacular designs to a need to think differently and the strong guidance of the Yeats Committee as much as to Metcalfe.

Peter

[<k>]

the sculptor Ivan Meštrović was supposed to participate in the design competition too. But he did not get the invitation in time. In 2007 the central bank issued a collector coin to commemorate the 80th anniversary of his harp design

Christian

Although Meštrović knew it wouldn't be eligible because he had missed the deadline, he created a design for the obverse and presented it to the Irish Free State. Years later, it was adopted as the seal of the Central Bank of Ireland in December 1965.


Meštrović's design.

[<k>]

An oddity resulting from the competition for the Irish coinage designs was this pattern penny by Jerome Connor. Apparently "he thought of the penny as a child’s coin, and his design reflected this by celebrating childhood – the scampish boy is based on his grandnephew John." Mr Connor did of course also submit designs of animals, as requested. I do not know what prompted him to produce this extra design.

See: Ireland: Rejected Coin Design of 1926.

[Bimat]

WB Yeats: The poet who made our money

WB Yeats played the leading role in the creation of the first coins for the Free State government in 1926.

He chaired a committee that chose the designs, with a harp on one side and animals for the different denominations on the other.

These included a woodcock for a farthing, a hen for the penny, a pig for a ha'penny, a bull for a shilling, and a salmon for two shillings.

Yeats wanted simple symbols, and some of the chosen designs by Englishman Percy Metcalfe survived decimalisation in 1971 and lasted until the introduction of the Euro.

The coins stood the test of time, despite criticisms from a chief livestock inspector from the Ministry of Agriculture, who said the bull was "all wrong".

Source: Irish Independent

[<k>]

Irish State trial penny, by Publio Morbiducci.


Numisor SA > Online Auction 4   Auction date: 28 January 2016

Lot number: 409

Price realized: 4,400 CHF   (Approx. 4,325 USD / 3,979 EUR)

Lot description:

Ireland 1927 Copper- Aluminium PROOF "Morbiducci Prova" Penny, Extremely Rare, NGC Graded PF 45. (KM.Pr-3) NGC Certification: 2048292-009

Source: Numisor SA

Image copyright Numisor SA.

[<k>]

Morbiducci trial set, copyright www.baldwin.co.uk

Source: BALDWINS SUMMER FPL 2013 - 08 - SCOTTISH and IRISH COINS.pdf

See page 3 of the pdf.

[Figleaf]

Heavy influence of Roman art. Morbiducci's first name, Publio, is an indication of the classical interests of his parents. All this when Italian fascism is on the rise and the king wants Italian coins to have a Roman look. Interesting!

Peter

[<k>]

Morbiducci's sixpence, depicting an Irish wolfhound. Image copyright www.cngcoins.com.

Source: Classical Numismatic Group

[WillieBoyd2]

The Irish "Animal Coins" were popular with Irish people in the United States.

My father bought this coin holder with coins in San Francisco sometime when I was a kid in the 1950's.


Coins of Ireland cardboard holder 5" x 3-3/4" (12.7 x 9.5 cm)

[<k>]

Norwegian wildlife set.


I forgot to mention the Norwegian wildlife set, which was issued from 1958 to 1973. In my opinion it was clearly modelled on Metcalfe's barnyard series. So far as I know, it was the first circulation set after the Irish barnyard set that included an animal on every reverse. The animals are set against a bare background, just like the animals in the Metcalfe set. In the Norwegian set, however, only the elk stands on a plinth (a line that separates the exergue from the rest of the coin).