Ireland 20 pence 1986 - Irish Hunter Horse

The coin's story

The 20 pence coin, worth one fifth of an Irish pound, was put into circulation on 30 October 1986. As early as 1982, the Minister for Finance Ray MacSharry had announced an intermediate denomination, to reduce the cost of small coins and replace some of the 5 and 10 pence coins, in 1984, the 20 pence was preferred to the 25 pence, and the Arts Council of Ireland recommended the horse design. It takes up the Irish Hunter that Percy Metcalfe had created for the half crown of 1928. Its yellow alloy of copper, zinc and a little nickel cost about a quarter less to produce than copper-nickel. It is also the first Irish decimal coin to differ in size from its British equivalent, the Irish pound no longer being tied to sterling since 1979. Before its launch, the country's vending machines and phone boxes had to be adjusted: about 500 coins dated 1985 were struck for this purpose and were meant to be melted down, but a few escaped melting and have become great rarities. The coin was withdrawn in 2002 with the changeover to the euro.