Ireland 5 pence 1805 - George III

The coin's story

This silver 5 pence token is an official emergency coin of the Bank of Ireland, dated 1805, during the reign of George III. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Ireland lacked silver coinage, the Bank of Ireland first tried importing Spanish 8 reales coins, then obtained authorisation in 1804 to issue its own silver tokens (bank tokens). The Napoleonic Wars, which worsened the financial crisis, then caused the production of these tokens to soar. The law authorising these tokens applied only to 1805: the bank therefore dated them 1805 and continued to issue them with this date in 1806, 1807 and 1808. The reverse reads in five lines BANK TOKEN FIVE PENCE IRISH above the date. The great recoinage, from 1816 after the end of the wars, put an end to these tokens.