Since independence, there have been three sets ofcoins in Ireland. In all three, thecoin showed aCeltic harp on theobverse. Thepre-decimal coins of theIrish pound had realistic animals on the reverse; thedecimal coins retained some of these but featured ornamental birds on the lower denominations; and theeuro coins used the common design of the euro currencies. The pre-decimal and original decimal coins were of the same dimensions as the same denominationBritish coins, as the Irish pound was in a de-factocurrency union with the Britishpound sterling. British coins were widely accepted in Ireland, and conversely to a lesser extent. In 1979, Ireland joined theExchange Rate Mechanism and the Irish pound left parity with sterling; coin designs introduced after this differed between the two countries.

The first coins minted inIreland were produced in about 995 AD inDublin for KingSitric, theHiberno-NorseKing of Dublin. These penny coins bore the head and name of the king and the wordDyflin for Dublin.John of England was among the firstAnglo-Normanmonarchs to mint coins in Ireland; these were farthings, halfpennies and pennies. It was not until the reign ofHenry VIII that Irish coins bore theharp and, later in Henry's reign, the year. In the following centuriesgold,silver andcopper coins were issued, and at one time, metal from melted-down gun barrels was used; this was called "gun money". Coins issued in the 18th and 19th centuries often included the wordHibernia on the harp side. The last Irish coins issued prior to independence were during the reign ofKing George IV, in 1822 and 1823. Irish coins were withdrawn in 1826 following the full political union of Ireland and Britain in the1800 Act of Union. Occasionalfantasy coins were minted in the next century but these were neithercirculated norlegal tender.

TheIrish Free State decided soon after its foundation in the 1920s to design its owncoins andbanknotes. It was decided that the Irish currency would be pegged to thepound sterling. The Coinage Act, 1926^[1] was passed as a legislative basis for the minting of coins for the state and these new coins commenced circulation on 12 December 1928.

As is common withnumismaticterminology the side of theseal of the state is termed the "obverse"; this is often called the common side; the "reverse" is the side with the denomination specific design.

Coins are issued by theCentral Bank of Ireland which acts as an agent of theMinister for Finance.

In 1926, theIrish government created a committee chaired bySenatorWilliam Butler Yeats to determine designs suitable for the coins. The other members of the committee wereThomas Bodkin,Dermot O'Brien,Lucius O'Callaghan andBarry Egan.

Some decisions were made at the outset. Theharp was to be on most if not all coins, and all lettering would be in Irish. The committee decided that people associated with "the present time" should not feature in any designs, no doubt^{[citation needed]} due to the political divisions which had led to theIrish Civil War. They decided later that religious or cultural themes should be avoided in case coins became relics or medals.Agriculture was essential to theeconomy of Ireland and this theme was chosen for the coins, which used designs featuring animals and birds.

Finally, the harp and the wordsSaorstát Éireann ("Irish Free State") were chosen for the obverse side of coins. Images of animals and birds were presented to the chosen artists to design the reverse and they were also given pictures of theDalway harp andTrinity College harp for guidance. Later, theMinister for Finance,Ernest Blythe decided that the value of the coins should be written in numerals as well as in words, and he suggested using plants; this latter suggestion was rejected because the competition was at an advanced stage and due to the difficulty of obtaining good facsimiles of plants.

Three Irish artistsJerome Connor,Albert Power andOliver Sheppard were chosen, and also the foreign artistsPaul Manship (American),Percy Metcalfe (English)Carl Milles (Swedish) andPublio Morbiducci (Italian); a number of other artists were invited but did not take part. Each artist was paid and allowed to produce designs inplaster ormetal, with a prize for the winner. Identifying marks were removed from the designs so the committee did not know whose designs were being judged.Percy Metcalfe's designs were chosen and design modifications were added with assistance fromcivil servants at theDepartment of Agriculture.

The first coins were struck in 1928 and were minted at theRoyal Mint inLondon. In 1938, following the introduction of theConstitution of Ireland, the obverse of the coins was modified with theIrish language name of the State, "Éire", and the harp was also modified so that it wore better. The Central Bank Act, 1942 Section 58^[2] allowed purenickel to be substituted with acupro-nickelalloy. The description of the state as the "Republic of Ireland" did not require any change in the name on coins issued after 1948. The Coinage Act, 1950^[3] changed the law on coinage principally with the removal of silver from coins then in existence. The final piece of primary legislation for predecimal coins was the Coinage (Amendment) Act, 1966^[4] which allowed for aten shillings coin to be minted and circulated. The ten shillings was the only modern circulating Irish coin not to feature the harp, to incorporate edge lettering, and to depict an actual Irishman (Pádraig Pearse), and to depict a political subject (Pearse was an Irish revolutionary and the edge lettering in Irish Gaelic only referred to the 1916Easter Rising).

While many of the Irish coins are common, particularly in lower grades, there are some notable rarities. Most of the 1943 Florins and Half Crowns were melted down at the Royal Mint, and only small numbers were released.

Only one and two specimens, respectively, are known of the 1938 Half Crown and Penny.^[5] These are classed aspattern coins, as no coins dated 1938 were struck for circulation.

Three new designs were created inbronze for the new decimal currency by the artistGabriel Hayes, and were based uponmanuscript designs of ornamental birds inCeltic knotwork style. The designs ofPercy Metcalfe were retained for the new five and ten pence coins, taken from the shilling and florin, respectively. The new fifty pence piece bore the image of the woodcock from the oldfarthing. The designs were quite simple using only figures and symbols to indicate the value; using only the letter "P" to denote bothpenny andpingin (theIrish word for penny).

In 1978, theCentral Bank of Ireland opened theCurrency Centre atSandyford in Dublin for the production of coins and banknotes. Irish coins had previously been produced in Great Britain at theRoyal Mint.

The rising expense of minting coins necessitated the introduction of thetwenty pence coin in 1986; thehalfpenny coin was withdrawn at this time asinflation had reduced its buying power. The introduction of theIrish pound coin required the Decimal Currency Act, 1990.^[7] These ECU coins were issued in 50 ECU, 10 ECU and 5ECU denominations, ingold,silver and silver respectively. These coins used theIrish red deer design from the Irish pound coin with a mountain relief in the background and other notable differences such as the12 stars of the European Flag surrounding theharp, quite similar to theIrish euro coins.

The coins issued under the Decimal Currency Acts were finallywithdrawn from circulation in 2002 by the Irish Pound Coinage (Calling In) (No. 2) Order, 2001^[8] which revoked an earlier similar order; the date was set for 10 February 2002.

The introduction of theeuro was overseen by theEuro Changeover Board of Ireland which was a special agency created on May 5, 1998 by the Minister for Finance; this agency provided a wide variety of information including converters, training packs, images and public advertisements on a wide range of media to ensure a successful transfer. As with alleurozone countries, Ireland continued to mint its own coins after the currency changeover to the euro. One side of euro coins is common across the eurozone, it is the obverse which has a design unique to Ireland. Although some other countries used more than one design, or even a separate design for each of the eight coins (1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, €1 and €2), Ireland used only one design. A redesignedharp (superficially identical to that used on earlier coins) was used, having been designed by Jarlath Hayes. Some other eurozone members have unique lettering around the €2 coin. The edge on Irish €2 coins merely has the sequence "", repeated three times.

The first collectors' commemorative coin issued since the changeover was a €10 silver coin to mark theSpecial Olympics in 2003. This was struck insterling .925 silver and hand finished to create a distinctive gold logo and harp. A €5 coin was also produced. Since then a number of commemorative coins have been issued including one for the accession of the ten newEuropean Union member states on 1 May 2004. One side of the €10 coin depicts aswan sitting on ten eggs, with the reverse depicting the harp and the names of all ten members in their native language. The first gold coin ever issued by the Central Bank was a €20 issued in 2006 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth ofSamuel Beckett. These commemorative coins are only legal tender in Ireland, and are not valid elsewhere in the eurozone.

In 2007, Ireland issued a €2 common coin for general circulation, together with the others countries of the Eurozone, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of theTreaty of Rome followed by a €2 common commemorative coin in 2009 celebrating the tenth anniversary of the birth of the euro currency in 1999, by another €2 common commemorative coin in 2012 for the tenth anniversary of the introduction of coins and banknotes denominated in euro and, finally, by another €2 common commemorative dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of theEuropean Flag in 2015. For the first time since it adopted the euro, Ireland issued, on its own, in 2016, a €2 commemorative coin in honour of the hundredth anniversary of theEaster Rising in 1916.

In 2013, theCentral Bank of Ireland issued a silver €10 commemorative coin in honour ofJames Joyce that misquoted a famous line from his masterworkUlysses^[9] despite being warned on at least two occasions by the Department of Finance over difficulties with copyright and design.^[10]

All pre-euro Irish coins may be exchanged for their equivalent in euros any weekday morning at theCentral Bank in Dublin.

• Banknotes of the Republic of Ireland
• Coins of Ireland
• Arms of Ireland
• Commemorative coins of Ireland
• Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Ireland)

• "Coinage of Saorstát Éireann", William Butler Yeats, The Stationery Office, Dublin, 1928.
• "The Irish Coinage Designs", Thomas Bodkin DLitt, Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin, November 30, 1928.

• Irish coinage website - history, images and catalogue.

• Coins of the Republic of Ireland
• Coins of Ireland

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