Sixpence (Irish coin)
The sixpence (6d;  or  ) coin was a subdivision of the pre-decimal Irish pound, worth  of a pound or  of a shilling. The Irish name  is derived from the Spanish ; for most of the 19th century, a pound sterling was equal to five U.S. dollars, and a dollar was equal to eight , so that a  was equal to  of a pound. The variant spelling  was used in the Coinage Act 1926, and appeared on the coins themselves even after a 1947 spelling reform established  as the standard. The coin was originally struck in nickel, like the threepence coin, and was very well wearing. The metal was changed to cupronickel in 1942 as nickel increased in value; this coin, which consisted of 75% copper and 25% nickel, was not as well-wearing. The coin measured  in diameter and a weighed 4.53593 grams. Five early coins were minted featuring a design by Publio Morbiducci, which depict the Wolfhound's head looking back; these coins are quite valuable, estimated at several thousand euro – they remain in the hands of collectors and were never released to circulation. The general design of the coin was by English artist Percy Metcalfe. His designs had been selected by a panel from those submitted by a number of sculptors who had been invited to create designs for the coinage of the new Irish Free State. The brief for the design of the sixpence was that it feature an Irish Wolfhound. The obverse featured the Irish harp. From 1928 to 1937 the date was split either side of the harp with the name Saorstát Éireann circling around. From 1938 to 1969 the inscription changed to Éire on the left of the harp and the date on the right. It has been suggested by some that the dog depicted is Master McGrath, a famous coursing greyhound raised in County Waterford. Although the frieze of Master McGrath on the Master McGrath monument in Waterford, the only public monument in Ireland to a greyhound, does bear some similarity to Metcalfe's design, there is no evidence to suggest that the animal on the coin is anything other than a wolfhound, as greyhounds are not native to Ireland. It was expected that this coin would circulate alongside the new decimal coins, with a value of  new pence as in the United Kingdom. With this in mind the Central Bank of Ireland continued to have the coin minted, last dated 1969, while minting decimal coins. However, the coin ended up being withdrawn instead, never to become a decimal-based coin; it remains the last pre-decimal coin to come off the production run. In 1990 it was announced that the decimal penny would be redesigned to incorporate the wolfhound design, but this plan was abandoned in the face of the imminent adoption of the Euro. See also

£sd

References

External links
Coinage Act, 1926
Coinage (Dimensions and Designs) Order, 1928
Coinage (Calling In) Order, 1971
Irish Coinage website – catalogue – sixpence

sixpence coin