Ireland 1940 penny
This specimen was lot 3091 in Goldberg sale 98 (Los Angeles, June 2017), where it sold for $646. The catalog description[1] noted, "Ireland. Penny, 1940. Obverse, Irish harp. Reverse, mother hen with young by Percy Metcalfe. The rarest date in the popular series, seldom encountered so nice. Uncirculated and glossy with much residual mint red. NGC graded MS-64 Red & Brown. WINGS." After winning independence from Great Britain after World War One, Ireland went thru a civil war before settling on a free state completely separate from Britain. The first coinage of the new country was in 1928; in 1939, the obverse legend was revised from "SAORSTAT EIREANN" to plain "EIRE", which title still obtains. This is the key date of a type struck 1940-68.
Recorded mintage: 312,000.
Specification: 9.45 g, bronze, 30.9 mm diameter, designed by Percy Metcalfe.
Catalog reference: KM 11.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Man & Lundy), Pre-Decimal Issues, 2nd edition, London: Spink & Son, 2003.
- [1]Goldberg, Ira, Larry Goldberg, John Lavender, Yifu Che, Jason Villareal and Stephen Harvey, Goldberg Sale 98: the Pre-Long Beach Auction, Los Angeles: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, 2017.
Link to:
- 1940 shilling
- 1940 half crown
- 1943 penny
- Coins and currency dated 1940
- return to coins of Ireland