Numismatic Society of Ireland

Cumann Moneolaíochta na hÉireann

Advancing the study and fostering interest in numismatics
especially Irish numismatics

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Numismatic Links

Ireland related

Numismatic Society of Ireland, Northern Branch.

Irish Coinage is the web's definitive site on over a thousand years of the coinage of Ireland. Information about Irish coins for numismatists, collectors, archaeologists and others who have an interest in the currency in use in Ireland from earliest times to the present day. Includes high quality images of many scarcer coins of Ireland.

Irish Papermoney is the web's definitive site on the banknotes of Ireland, from their beginnings through to the modern issues of the Central Bank of Ireland up to 2001.

Central Bank of Ireland: The official web site of The Central Bank of Ireland. The Central Bank of Ireland is the patron of the Numismatic Society of Ireland. The archives of the Central Bank of Ireland are open to researchers, with a searchable database of content on the Central Bank of Ireland website.

A brief history of the Central Bank of Ireland.

UCD collection of Roman coins.

Hibernia representative of Ireland.

Article on the Limerick Soviet with some good references, from a left-wing orientated website.

A recent (2012) review of the Limerick Soviet.

In the eighteenth century Edward Smith sculpted the River Masks which adorn the facade of the Custom House, Dublin. Some of these masks were used as a central feature of the reverse of the design of the Legal Tender Notes (A Series 1928–1977), and on the reverse of the C Series £10 note (1992–1999).

Background to the shortage of silver coinage in Ireland in the late 1700s.

The suspension of cash payments in 1797. Newby, E., The Suspension of Cash Payments as a Monetary Regime whereby the requirement of the Bank of England to pay specie (gold and silver) on its bank notes was suspended, due to a shortage of gold and silver as a result of the Napoleonic wars draining value out of the economy.

Boyle G.E. and Geary P.T., The Irish Currency Report of 1804 paper examining, amongst other things, the state of circulating paper money in Ireland.

The Ulster Historical Foundation website's brief on Banks and money in Ireland in the 1730s presents the background to the story of banking in Ireland before large joint stock banks were permitted.

A brief on the Assimilation of Currencies Act, 1825 which was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which provided for the abolition of the Irish Pound as a separate currency, which floated with variable exchange rates, and its joining with the English Pound Sterling.

Kelly, J. The Irish Pound: From Origins to EMU. The Central Bank of Ireland, 2003. A paper on the 75 year history of the Irish Pound from 1927 to the changeover to the Euro in 2002.

McGowan, P. Money and Banking in Ireland, Origins Development and Future.

Farewell to the Irish Pound. A History Ireland article on the passing of the Irish currency in 2002.

Pagan, H., The Kilkenny West, Co. Westmeath, Hoard of Coins of Eadgar.
Article on British Numismatic Society blog.

Information on the Euro currency which replaced the Irish currency in 2002 at a fixed exchange rate of £0.787564 equal to 1 Euro.

Ireland joined the EEC in 1973, participated in Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1988, joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) on 13 March 1979, which was the first step to the introduction of the Euro. This lead to the breaking of the Irish Pound's link to Sterling. Ireland went on to be a founder member of the Eurozone.

European Central Bank website.

The Bank of England website.

A short history of the Pound Sterling from the BBC.

British Celtic Coin Index. A repository of Celtic coins found in the UK.

The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.

Early Scottish banking was a template for the evolution of Irish banking.

Images of current Scottish banknotes can be found on the Committee of Scottish Bankers' website.

USA related

National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian, National Museum of American History. Since they redesigned their website, it has become difficult to find the coins and banknotes.

The Federal Reserve System in the US came into being in 1913, and was the template for the creation of the Consolidated Bank Note issue in Ireland in 1929.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco American Currency Exhibit.

Cornell University Coin Collection an on-line exhibition of Cornell University's coin collection.

University of North Carolina Library's Numismatic Collection.

University of Notre Dame Library Web site for the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections in the Hesburgh Library, University of Notre Dame, Indiana. It contains a section on early Irish Stamps and Colonial Currency banknotes of the USA. There are also images of early US Coins and Confederate Banknotes, though the banknotes are currently very large files. A site very well worth a visit.

Some general sources of interest

Decimalisation in Britain in 1971 necessitated a similar change to decimal currency in Ireland. Decimal Day was on 15 February 1971.

French and French colonial Banknotes and coins.

French Assignats. A website dedicated to the paper money issued by the National Assembly in France during the French Revolution. Assignats, currency from the French Revolution 1789–1796.

A discussion on the costs and benefits of phasing out paper currency.

Vietnam and French Indochina coins and banknotes. This web site has been around for a long time, and presents some good images of early notes.

Members are encouraged to suggest other external links to noncommercial free access websites of numismatic interest.

Golden Jubilee 2011
Badge and Medals
Numismatic Exhibitions
Numismatic Links