The days of pounds, shillings and pence

I made my First Communion in 1968. There wasn’t as much fuss at that time about special outfits, bouncy castles and caterers being engaged to provide lunch. The family circle was smaller back then but despite this, I was gifted eight half crowns on the day.

At that time, a half crown made for a sizable gift: eight of them made up one pound. The half crown was a coin in our old money which amounted to two shillings and six pence. With twelve pence in a shilling, simple maths will tell you that there were 240 pence in a pound.

Old money 

Up until Independence, Ireland used British coins and notes. Even after Independence, the Irish Pound, established by the Currency Act 1927, had a fixed link with Sterling until 1979. In March of that year, Ireland joined the European Monetary System, thus ending the link with British Pound.

The new Irish Free State government passed the Coinage Act in 1926 which empowered the Minister for Finance to make and issue silver, nickel and bronze coins. A committee was established to choose designs for the new coins. This committee was headed by WB Yeats and it recommended that the coins feature a series of native animals because of their central importance to the mainly agricultural economy of the country.

Percy Metcalfe won the design competition for the new coins which were first issued on December 12, 1928. Information provided by the Central Bank gives further design details.

The harp was chosen for the obverse of the coins, as it had been the heraldic emblem of Ireland for many centuries. The design of the harp featured on the coins is Metcalfe’s adaptation of the Brian Ború Harp, located in Trinity College Dublin. The words ‘Saorstát Éireann’ (Irish Free State) appeared on the obverse of the coins from 1928 to 1939. In 1939, the word ‘Éire’ replaced ‘Saorstát Éireann’ and minor alterations were made to the horse, hen and harp.

Native animals 

The following is a list of the coins, and the animals depicted on them, issued in accordance with the designs created by Metcalfe. Half Crown (Horse) - 2/6 (two shillings and six pence); Florin (Salmon) - 2/ (two shillings); Shilling (Bull) - 1/-; Sixpence (Wolfhound) - 6d;  Threepence (Hare) - 3d; Penny (Hen and Chickens) - 1d; Halfpenny (Pig and Piglets) - 1/2d; Farthing (Woodcock) - 1/4d (quarter-penny).

As mentioned previously, the coins featured a series of native animals because of their central importance to Ireland's agricultural economy. Mind you, how the woodcock found his way in there is interesting, as he is neither agricultural or fully native. Notwithstanding that, the series of coins were magnificent. They represented a new Ireland, standing on its own two feet for the first time in centuries and the clever link to agriculture and the land struck the perfect note of tradition, self-sufficiency and growing strength.

Percy Metcalfe 

Ruth Devine, in a contribution to the Dictionary of Irish Biography, provides the following information about Percy Metcalfe. He was a man of many talents who was, funnily enough, born in Britain.

Percy Metcalfe (1895–1970), was born 14 January, 1895, at Wakefield, Yorkshire. He began his education in art at the Leeds School of Art (1910–14) where he undertook a general course. He was awarded a travel scholarship (1921) enabling him to go to Paris for a time. His talent and hard work was recognised and, as a result of his success, he received a number of public and private commissions.

In 1926, the Irish Free State coinage act was passed and Metcalfe won the competition for the design of the new coinage. Seven artists, three of whom were Irish, were invited to submit designs in either plaster or metal. A selection committee was chosen, chaired by WB Yeats, to advise the government on coinage designs. As Yeats pointed out, it was important to get it right as ‘Ireland is the first modern state to design an entire coinage. It was deemed essential that the coins should be linked in theme, hence the choice of domestic animals, birds, and fish. It was thought it best to avoid patriotic symbols altogether, and the only traditional symbols retained were the harp (as used on the state seal) and the wolfhound.

Metcalfe's talent for stripping forms to their bare essentials and filling the given space of the coin gave the new designs an appealing modern look and proved him to be an imaginative artist and superb craftsman. His designs were sent for approval to the Minister for Agriculture because of the importance of animals to the industry, and some minor changes were made… the woodcock continuing to hold his own.

The new coinage was criticised in some quarters for its lack of religious symbols and emblems, with one monsignor declaring it unsuitable to represent an ancient Christian nation. However, most people were pleased, and Yeats, speaking in the senate in March 1926, called the coins, “the silent ambassadors of national taste”. 

The price of a pint 

£1 in 1928 was worth about €84 in today’s money. While costs have changed relative to each other, it is interesting to look back at the price of certain items when Metcalfe’s coins were first issued. The price of a pint and the average industrial wage are always good benchmarks for such comparisons.

In the mid-1920s, wages ranged between £1 per week for a labourer to £2 per week for a skilled worker. At this time also, the price of a pint of stout was 9d (nine pence). If you think the pint is expensive these days, take note… today you will get 120 pints for the average weekly wage. In 1928, you would only get 40 pints for your wage. While a crude method of comparison, this is an interesting finding: pints were three times more expensive when Metcalfe’s coins were new.

It seems strange now, in an era of hardly any coins at all, that Metcalfe’s coins were so impressive. Not only was it important for an emerging state to have its own personalised coins, this was substantial money. An old copper penny was huge compared to a modern-day cent. Its depiction of, the most Ox Mountainesque of all agricultural units, the hen and chickens, made it all the more endearing. 

Whatever about their relative value, these coins were magnificent. Their design, their size and their beauty were unrivalled. Metcalfe’s designs were the perfect mixture of tradition and new growth and they beautifully symbolised power and wealth. This coinage was discontinued in February 1971 when Ireland's currency was changed over to the decimal system. The farthing and halfpenny had been taken out of circulation earlier, in 1969.

Even in May 1968, the pile of half crowns on my bedside table was a fine amount of money. They totalled £1 and, continuing the agricultural influence imbedded in their design, I spent them on a ram lamb which I bought from my father. That lamb was later sold at the September fair in Tubbercurry, making me a handsome profit.