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Name of Country Using the Euro: Ireland |
Other interesting facts about Ireland and its money: • One of the earliest types of Irish money is called ring money. These are gold rings that people used for money. They could be plain or decorated.
• Around the year 995, the Irish started making coins for money. From 995-1928, different kings made different coins. Some were made out of silver, bronze or brass. Some of the types of coins they minted were halfpennies, pennies, farthings, groats and shillings.
•The more decorated they were, the higher the value. Also, because the quality of the gold cold be different, none of these coins had a set value. The buyer and seller had to agree on the value of the ring every time it was being used. No rings were identical--the size and type of decoration was different for each one.
This gold ring was called
Ring Money.
• Ireland is surrounded by countries that aren't participating in the euro.
• In 1926 the government of Ireland decided to create new Irish coins.
This is what the designs looked like:• Fronts of all coins are identical.
• Has a sixteen string Irish harp in middle of coin.
• On the left side of the harp is the word Eire. (means Ireland in the Irish language.)
On the back of the old coins are:• Back has a different animal depending on what piece of money it is.
• A woodcock is on the farthing because of its size and being an important game bird.
• A sow is on the halfpenny because the pig was a very important animal to Irish life.
• A hen is on the penny because it is holding an arrowhead in one claw and the Irish think that a hen is brave.
• A bull was on the shilling because it is very important to Irish agriculture.
• A salmon was on the florin because the fishing industry is important to Irish economy.
• A horse was on the halfcrown but they stopped making the halfcrown and halfpenny in 1969.
The Irish euro coins have harps.
• The harp is the traditional symbol of Ireland. The picture to the right shows the Irish Harp on a shield. The great chieftans had musicians, and their favorite instrument was the harp.• The harp is on the national side all the euro coins from Ireland. It is usually surrounded by the word Eire which means Ireland in Irish, the date of issue and twelve stars surrounding it all.
• On the right side of harp is the date it was issued.
• Around the date, word and harp, there are twelve stars.
• The harp on the euro was designed by Jarlath Hayes.
The Celtic Harp is on all the Irish euro coins.To see the national sides of all the Irish coins, click here.
To learn more about the history of Ireland's money, click here.Home • Who • What • When • Where • Why • Wacky Words • Bibliography • About Us • E-mail Us
