Ireland ½ crown 1964 - Horse (Irish Hunter)

The coin's story

The half crown was worth two shillings and sixpence, or one eighth of a pound, and was commonly called “two and six”. For nearly half a century, it was the largest coin in circulation in Ireland. It belongs to the “Barnyard series”, the animal series designed by the English sculptor Percy Metcalfe for the first coinage of independent Ireland in 1928, chosen by a committee chaired by the poet W. B. Yeats. The 1927 competition required a horse for this denomination: Metcalfe depicted an Irish Hunter, the versatile Irish horse, used as much for farm work as for transport and hunting. First struck in 750‰ silver, the coin changed to copper-nickel in 1951. The last half crowns were struck in 1967 and withdrawn from circulation on 1 January 1970.