Ireland 1 shilling 1928 proof

The coin's story

This shilling in 750 thousandths silver bears the date 1928, the year of the very first coins of the Irish Free State. Created in 1922, the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) issued its first coins on 12 December 1928. A committee chaired by the poet W. B. Yeats chose animals important to the country's agricultural economy, and the design competition was won by the Englishman Percy Metcalfe. The obverse bears the harp, the heraldic emblem of Ireland for centuries, inspired by the so-called Brian Boru harp kept at Trinity College Dublin. The shilling shows a bull, a reminder of the importance of cattle breeding to Irish agriculture. This example belongs to the 6,001 pieces struck in proof, sold in a cased set with the complete 1928 series, in addition to the 2,700,000 standard pieces. The coin was struck at the Royal Mint in London.