Ireland 10 shillings 1966 - Easter Rising

The coin's story

This silver 10 shillings coin was issued only once, in 1966, for the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising of 1916 in Dublin. The obverse shows Patrick Pearse (Pádraig Mac Piarais), one of the leaders of the Rising. The reverse reproduces the statue of the dying Cú Chulainn, a hero of Irish mythology, sculpted by Oliver Sheppard in 1911, Éamon de Valera chose it in 1935 as the official memorial of the Rising, and it stands in the General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin. Both sides are the work of Thomas Humphrey Paget, and the coin was struck at the Royal Mint in London. Of the 2,000,000 pieces struck, 1,270,000 were melted down by the Central Bank around decimalisation in 1971, leaving 730,000 pieces, and others were melted in 1980-1981 when the price of silver soared. The edge bears in Irish ÉIRÍ AMAĊ NA CÁSCA 1916 (Easter Rising 1916).