George III NEWP

JCMhouston · July 10, 2015 1:24PM

And an Irish one to boot. This is an 1805 Bank of Ireland 5 pence token, similar in thought to the Bank of England tokens issued slightly later in England. Reasonably scarce in uncirculated, but no one collects them so it was very cheap.

bronzemat · July 10, 2015 11:22PM

Very nice JC.

Do you think people don't bother to collect them due to a boring reverse?

JCMhouston · July 11, 2015 2:32AM

The boring reverse probably doesn't help, I think also most people collecting Ireland are only collecting the Independent Irish coins, and most people collecting British don't even know about these. Looking at the HA archives the last one they sold was in 2008, and prior to that 2004, they certainly aren't as common as the 10p or the 1/4, 1/2 and 1 p pieces.

nicholasz219 · July 11, 2015 5:07PM

There are so many weird little areas of collecting like this. Where certain issues just fall through the cracks. I think this is a great piece. Exactly the kind of thing I would suddenly need to have very badly.

lordmarcovan · July 11, 2015 7:14PM

Maybe the text-only reverse could be considered a bit boring, but then there's also the fact that George III wasn't exactly the handsomest fellow in history. (But to be fair, neither were a lot of his contemporary counterparts in other monarchies, like Ol' Bignose Charles III of Spain.)

Still, I think these Irish pieces are neat. The fact that they're a little off the beaten path makes them a bit more appealing to me, rather than the opposite.

Swampboy · July 12, 2015 2:56AM

<< <i>...a great piece. Exactly the kind of thing I would suddenly need to have very badly. >>

WillieBoyd2 · July 12, 2015 4:59AM

Another one, not in as good shape:

Ireland Bank Token 5 Pence 1806

Such is the life of kings.

Sullykerry52 · July 12, 2015 5:33AM

I have the half penny and the ten pence Irish tokens. I do collect Irish coins, part of my heritage. I have several going as far back as Henry VIII's first use of the harp to distinguish groats as minted in Dublin.

These token coins were authorized in 1805 to alleviate the chronic shortage of circulating coins in Ireland. These coins were to be temporary to be replaced by later issues in 1808 and 1815. There are two really nice coins of this era, the George III penny (1805) with the Irish harp on the obverse and George IV penny of 1822. This latter coin was the last Irish coin to bear a portrait of an Irish monarch.

It was nearly 100 years later that Ireland finally had its partial freedom and its own distinct coinage.

JCMhouston · July 12, 2015 11:22AM

I don't have the 1822 yet, but I'm working on a set of 19th C. pieces.

1806 Farthing

1805 Halfpenny

1805 Penny

Zohar · July 12, 2015 11:44AM

All very neat. Nice work Jeff.

dizzlecc · July 12, 2015 12:35PM

Nice unc coin.

nicholasz219 · July 12, 2015 5:12PM

Wow those coppers are beautiful.

Aethelred · July 12, 2015 9:04PM

Neat coin!

theboz11 · July 12, 2015 10:00PM

PatAR · July 13, 2015 8:46AM

Very nice! I especially like that chocolatey 1805 penny.

George III NEWP

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