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Irish pound
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Irish pound
The pound (Irish: punt) was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or IR£ for distinction). The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin circulation until the beginning of 2002.
The earliest Irish coinage was introduced in the late 10th century, with an £sd system of one pound divided into twenty shillings, each of twelve silver pence.[citation needed] Parity with sterling was established by King John around 1210, so that Irish silver could move freely into the English economy and help to finance his wars in France. However, from 1460, Irish coins were minted with a different silver content than those of England,[citation needed] so that the values of the two currencies diverged.
During the Williamite War of 1689–1691, King James II, no longer reigning in England and Scotland, issued an emergency base-metal coinage known as gun money.
In 1701, a proclamation stated one English shilling was equal to 1s. 1d. in Irish, making it possible for Irish copper coins to circulate with English silver coins. In 1737, the gold guinea coin was fixed at 21s. English or 22/9 Irish (i.e. 252 pence and 273 pence respectively). This effectively pegged the Irish pound to the English at a ratio of 13:12 in both gold and silver, i.e. an Irish pound was worth 12⁄13 of an English pound. (The Pound Scots had yet another value; it was absorbed into sterling in 1707 at a ratio of 12 to 1.) In 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland became part of the United Kingdom, but the Irish pound continued to circulate until January 1826. Between 1804 and 1813, silver tokens worth 10d were issued by the Bank of Ireland and were denominated in pence Irish. The last copper coins of the Irish pound were minted in 1823, and in 1826 the Irish pound was merged with the pound sterling. After 1826, some Irish banks continued to issue paper currency, but these were denominated in sterling, and no more distinctly Irish coins were minted until the creation of the Irish Free State in the 20th century.
From continuing to use sterling after its independence (1922), the new Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) introduced its own currency from 1928. The new Free State pound was defined by the 1927 Act to have exactly the same weight and fineness of gold as did the sovereign at the time, having the effect of making the new currency pegged at 1:1 with sterling. De facto rather than de jure parity with sterling was maintained for another fifty years. As with sterling, the £sd system was used, with the Irish names punt (plural: puint), scilling (plural: scillingí) and pingin (plural: pinginí). Distinctive coins and notes were introduced, the coins from 1928 (in eight denominations: 1⁄4d., 1⁄2d., 1d., 3d., 6d., shilling (1/–), florin (2/–), half crown (2/6) and in 1966 a 10/– coin) – all but the 3d. and 6d. had the same dimensions as their British counterparts, the Irish coins being thicker nickel coins in contrast to the thin 50% silver ones issued in the UK. However, sterling specie generally continued to be accepted on a one-for-one basis everywhere, whereas Irish coin was not generally accepted in the United Kingdom, except in parts of Northern Ireland.
The name of the state was officially changed to "Ireland" (Irish: Éire) on the coming into force of the Constitution of Ireland on 29 December 1937. On 10 May 1938, the name of the currency became the Irish pound.
The Report of the Metric System and Decimal Coinage Committee (1959) was amongst the first formal reports on decimalisation of the currency, discussion continued into the 1960s on the topic. When the British government decided to decimalise its currency, the Irish government followed suit. The Decimal Currency Act 1969 replaced the traditional shilling and penny with a centesimal subdivision, the "new penny" (pingin nua; symbol: p). The pound itself was not revalued by this act and therefore banknotes were unaffected, although the 10/– note was replaced by a 50p coin due to spiralling inflation. The new 5p coin correlated with the shilling coin, and the new 10p coin correlated with the florin coin. New coins were issued of the same dimensions and materials as the corresponding new British coins. The Decimal Currency Act 1970 made additional provisions for the changeover not related with the issue of coins.
Decimalisation was overseen by the Irish Decimal Currency Board, created on 12 June 1968. It provided changeover information to the public, including a pamphlet called Everyone's Guide to Decimal Currency. The changeover occurred on Decimal Day, 15 February 1971.
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Irish pound
The pound (Irish: punt) was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or IR£ for distinction). The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin circulation until the beginning of 2002.
The earliest Irish coinage was introduced in the late 10th century, with an £sd system of one pound divided into twenty shillings, each of twelve silver pence.[citation needed] Parity with sterling was established by King John around 1210, so that Irish silver could move freely into the English economy and help to finance his wars in France. However, from 1460, Irish coins were minted with a different silver content than those of England,[citation needed] so that the values of the two currencies diverged.
During the Williamite War of 1689–1691, King James II, no longer reigning in England and Scotland, issued an emergency base-metal coinage known as gun money.
In 1701, a proclamation stated one English shilling was equal to 1s. 1d. in Irish, making it possible for Irish copper coins to circulate with English silver coins. In 1737, the gold guinea coin was fixed at 21s. English or 22/9 Irish (i.e. 252 pence and 273 pence respectively). This effectively pegged the Irish pound to the English at a ratio of 13:12 in both gold and silver, i.e. an Irish pound was worth 12⁄13 of an English pound. (The Pound Scots had yet another value; it was absorbed into sterling in 1707 at a ratio of 12 to 1.) In 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland became part of the United Kingdom, but the Irish pound continued to circulate until January 1826. Between 1804 and 1813, silver tokens worth 10d were issued by the Bank of Ireland and were denominated in pence Irish. The last copper coins of the Irish pound were minted in 1823, and in 1826 the Irish pound was merged with the pound sterling. After 1826, some Irish banks continued to issue paper currency, but these were denominated in sterling, and no more distinctly Irish coins were minted until the creation of the Irish Free State in the 20th century.
From continuing to use sterling after its independence (1922), the new Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) introduced its own currency from 1928. The new Free State pound was defined by the 1927 Act to have exactly the same weight and fineness of gold as did the sovereign at the time, having the effect of making the new currency pegged at 1:1 with sterling. De facto rather than de jure parity with sterling was maintained for another fifty years. As with sterling, the £sd system was used, with the Irish names punt (plural: puint), scilling (plural: scillingí) and pingin (plural: pinginí). Distinctive coins and notes were introduced, the coins from 1928 (in eight denominations: 1⁄4d., 1⁄2d., 1d., 3d., 6d., shilling (1/–), florin (2/–), half crown (2/6) and in 1966 a 10/– coin) – all but the 3d. and 6d. had the same dimensions as their British counterparts, the Irish coins being thicker nickel coins in contrast to the thin 50% silver ones issued in the UK. However, sterling specie generally continued to be accepted on a one-for-one basis everywhere, whereas Irish coin was not generally accepted in the United Kingdom, except in parts of Northern Ireland.
The name of the state was officially changed to "Ireland" (Irish: Éire) on the coming into force of the Constitution of Ireland on 29 December 1937. On 10 May 1938, the name of the currency became the Irish pound.
The Report of the Metric System and Decimal Coinage Committee (1959) was amongst the first formal reports on decimalisation of the currency, discussion continued into the 1960s on the topic. When the British government decided to decimalise its currency, the Irish government followed suit. The Decimal Currency Act 1969 replaced the traditional shilling and penny with a centesimal subdivision, the "new penny" (pingin nua; symbol: p). The pound itself was not revalued by this act and therefore banknotes were unaffected, although the 10/– note was replaced by a 50p coin due to spiralling inflation. The new 5p coin correlated with the shilling coin, and the new 10p coin correlated with the florin coin. New coins were issued of the same dimensions and materials as the corresponding new British coins. The Decimal Currency Act 1970 made additional provisions for the changeover not related with the issue of coins.
Decimalisation was overseen by the Irish Decimal Currency Board, created on 12 June 1968. It provided changeover information to the public, including a pamphlet called Everyone's Guide to Decimal Currency. The changeover occurred on Decimal Day, 15 February 1971.