Just wanted to Share my Irish Shilling Collection! Would love to see other folks examples.

Clio

1928 PCGS AU 58 - Upgrade recently purchased
1930 ex-NGC MS 62 - Off for grading at PCGS
1931 PCGS AU 58
1933 - RAW
1935 PCGS MS 64+
1937 ex-NGC AU53 - PCGS AU DET
1939 - RAW
1940 PCGS AU 55 - Upgrade recently purchased
1941 Off for grading at PCGS
1942 PCGS MS 65

I've been working on this one a bit over a year now and really liking how it's going. It's very refreshing having a nice short set to work on that's still very challenging. Still keeping my eye open for any possible upgrades and I have a few in the works as we speak. Anyway I hope y'all enjoy it.

Special thanks to @ShadyDave for getting me hooked.

percyb

Erin go bragh!

Oldhoopster

Very nice.

I have a date set of average circulated examples, but yours puts those to shame

Clio

@Oldhoopster said:
Very nice.

I have a date set of average circulated examples, but yours puts those to shame

I live here in Ireland and it doesn't make finding the nicer conditions any easier!

Oldhoopster

In 1985, I was in Ireland and got a florin from my birthyear (I think they were circulating as 10p). I started looking for inexpensive examples at coin shows and eventually found a lot of the pre-decimal 1/2p - florin. Managed to get some Dansco Albums as well. It's a fun side collection.

ShadyDave

Sweet group, you’re making good progress! Sadly, I haven’t found any new additions to my Irish collection or any collection for that matter. Still need to decide if I’m going to submit that 1942 penny...

You getting excited for your trip back home?

Namvet69

Hey that's no bull! Nice set. Peace Roy

SaorAlba

Sometime whence I was in high school, early 1980s, I wrote to the Irish mint inquiring on a current mint set. They sent me a price listing that incredibly still had the 1928 sets on it, though 50K were produced I'm guessing they were not a big seller over the years.

Which must explain for later years why attractive examples of 1930s and 1940s dated coins are so fiendish to find. That makes your collection that much the more desirable.

Clio

@ShadyDave said:
Sweet group, you’re making good progress! Sadly, I haven’t found any new additions to my Irish collection or any collection for that matter. Still need to decide if I’m going to submit that 1942 penny...

You getting excited for your trip back home?

I am indeed! Hoping to tote some coins back in the luggage the missus doesn't realize yet!

@SaorAlba said:
Sometime whence I was in high school, early 1980s, I wrote to the Irish mint inquiring on a current mint set. They sent me a price listing that incredibly still had the 1928 sets on it, though 50K were produced I'm guessing they were not a big seller over the years.

Which must explain for later years why attractive examples of 1930s and 1940s dated coins are so fiendish to find. That makes your collection that much the more desirable.

That is very true! Actually strangely enough in 1961 they did run out of sets and made a few more but kept the 1928 date on them which resulted in the 1961 Mule Halfcrown. Very odd way of doing things. They did carry some sets with 1942 coins in them which weren't proofs and as such despite the low mintage of 1942s they are arguably the easiest to find in high grade of the series.

neildrobertson

Very cool. Just how hard is it to build an uncirculated set?

Clio

@neildrobertson said:
Very cool. Just how hard is it to build an uncirculated set?

It's pretty tough. Like one of the hang ups is that there's just not examples on the market. For the most part you couldn't buy it even if you had the funds straight up. Usually I get a chance at a MS piece once every few months and sometimes it's tough to decide where you want to be when you bid. A 1940 MS64 Shilling in an NGC holder was recently on eBay and the only sold listings I could find comparable were in the $60-$70 range. It sold for $155 and my max bid was $115 since I figured I'd just throw money at it and it would be mine lol. If you have buckets of money Del Parker has a few examples on his site but they are at a pretty premium from similar sold examples. I suppose that if no one else has them for sale why not list them high? Anyways It's certainly doable you just have to keep watching and checking in. The 1937 Shilling is 1k+ in unc and the rest are $300 or under generally dependent on the grade. Maybe the whole set would set you back 3k in low MS grades? However off the top of my head I can think of only 4 dates currently listed on eBay or else where in MS.

291fifth

This is a good example of why collectors should be looking outside collecting just US coins. Here is a group of coins that are very difficult to find yet are not priced through the roof. Think of what US coins of similar scarcity would cost you.

The darkside is calling.

Clio

@291fifth said:
This is a good example of why collectors should be looking outside collecting just US coins. Here is a group of coins that are very difficult to find yet are not priced through the roof. Think of what US coins of similar scarcity would cost you.

The darkside is calling.

I feel ya there. I started with a US type set and was quickly overwhelmed. Even looking towards other sets there was always some date that would just crush you price wise haha. A 10 coin set feels much nicer to work on as well. Short and sweet.

carabonnair

Anyone need a 1968?

Clio

@carabonnair said:
Anyone need a 1968?

Good lord haha. I only collect the silver ones but tht's a nice hoard.

Boosibri

Came across this near top pop 1933
https://flintlockcoin.com/products/1933-ireland-1-one-shilling-silver-coin-pcgs-ms-65-km-6?_pos=12&_sid=c0953dfd5&_ss=r&variant=31537070047275

gscoins

I share Clio's (and others') enthusiasm for modern Irish coins, especially the silver coins from 1928 to 1943! Since I am not sure how to include the photos from my Registry sets in this post (and there might be too many anyway to include), I thought it might be best simply to refer folks to those 10 sets (Sheffield Collection 19 through 28) if they're interested.

I agree with the comments posted here about the difficulties in finding nice Irish (particularly the post-1928 issues). I have been collecting them for over 20 years and still lack a decent 1940 florin and the very elusive 1937 half crown (not to mention the very rare 1943 florin and half crown, although that is due to my lack of finances!). The non-silvers are also tough; try finding an UNC 1934, 1935, 1945 and 1946 three pence, or the 1940 and 1942 six pence, as well as the 1940 penny.

What is fascinating about these coins is how, for some unknown reason, their prices have plummeted in Krause. A couple of examples: the 2016 Krause has an MS 63 1928 half crown at $170; the 2020 is at $125. In the same grade, the 1930 2/6 has gone from $800 to $400, while the 1933 2/6 is now $675, down from $1200. I asked Del Parker at the NYC show in January if he had any explanation for these decreases; his response was no, but they did make it easier for him to buy nice Irish at a lower price!

Anyway, the recent PCGS article on these coins may pique some greater interest...

Thanks to Clio for sharing his pretty shillings!

TomB

I think these coins are great and attempt to pick up nice examples when they appear. Here is a group shot of six pieces, though only one is a shilling.

Clio

@Boosibri said:
Came across this near top pop 1933
https://flintlockcoin.com/products/1933-ireland-1-one-shilling-silver-coin-pcgs-ms-65-km-6?_pos=12&_sid=c0953dfd5&_ss=r&variant=31537070047275

Thanks for the link! I have been following this one for a bit now and they drastically reduced the price shortly after I purchased my new raw 1933! I will keep tabs on it but I think mine is pretty nice so will wait until I have grades back on it.

@gscoins said:
I share Clio's (and others') enthusiasm for modern Irish coins, especially the silver coins from 1928 to 1943! Since I am not sure how to include the photos from my Registry sets in this post (and there might be too many anyway to include), I thought it might be best simply to refer folks to those 10 sets (Sheffield Collection 19 through 28) if they're interested.

I agree with the comments posted here about the difficulties in finding nice Irish (particularly the post-1928 issues). I have been collecting them for over 20 years and still lack a decent 1940 florin and the very elusive 1937 half crown (not to mention the very rare 1943 florin and half crown, although that is due to my lack of finances!). The non-silvers are also tough; try finding an UNC 1934, 1935, 1945 and 1946 three pence, or the 1940 and 1942 six pence, as well as the 1940 penny.

What is fascinating about these coins is how, for some unknown reason, their prices have plummeted in Krause. A couple of examples: the 2016 Krause has an MS 63 1928 half crown at $170; the 2020 is at $125. In the same grade, the 1930 2/6 has gone from $800 to $400, while the 1933 2/6 is now $675, down from $1200. I asked Del Parker at the NYC show in January if he had any explanation for these decreases; his response was no, but they did make it easier for him to buy nice Irish at a lower price!

Anyway, the recent PCGS article on these coins may pique some greater interest...

Thanks to Clio for sharing his pretty shillings!

Oh I know about your collection but only by the numbers! It only shows photos of your proof set in the gallery. Perhaps a setting on your account. I have a LONG while before I feel that I can reasonably compete with what you've put together. Would love to see photos some time.

I have actually upgraded a handful of the coins shown here since my initial posting but I will wait until PCGS grades a handful more of mine. I had 3 upgrades in for grading and it got to QA last week before shutting down! Will have to wait a bit on those sadly.

I don't monitor krause but I do have to say that is quite strange! Seems that while I've been searching things have only gotten more difficult to purchase.

I can only imagine the difficulty in finishing the Half Crown and Florin sets and long ago gave up on it myself. As far as the nickel and copper issues I find that I have less and less drive to collect base metals.

As a last note! I did ask PCGS to create a custom set for myself. I welcome you to please join and participate if you'd like. https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/ireland/irish-sterling-coinage/irish-shilling-silver-date-set-circulation-strikes-1928-1942/7396 I managed to leave off the clad issues since I really can't find the drive to purchase them. If this Eoin lad on the forums?

Happy Collecting,
Cheers!

Clio

@TomB said:
I think these coins are great and attempt to pick up nice examples when they appear. Here is a group shot of six pieces, though only one is a shilling.

Beautiful examples! Love seeing them in the older PCGS slabs and your photography is excellent. 66s across the board is very impressive. I will continue to try and get my first! Haha.