Ireland 6 pence 1928 - Irish Free State - Irish Wolfhound

The coin's story

The sixpence, called reul in Irish (a name derived from the Spanish real), was worth half a shilling. It belongs to the very first coinage of independent Ireland, put into circulation on 12 December 1928 in the name of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann). A committee chaired by the poet w. b. yeats chose animals rather than portraits or political symbols: this is the “Barnyard series”, designed by the English sculptor Percy Metcalfe. The specifications required an Irish Wolfhound for this denomination, another design, by the Italian engraver Publio Morbiducci, showed the dog's head turned back, but it was not chosen and only a few patterns survive. The coin was first struck in pure nickel, a very hard-wearing metal, then changed to copper-nickel in 1942, when nickel became too expensive. This nickel version, with the legend SAORSTÁT ÉIREANN, was struck only in 1928, 1934 and 1935, and 1928 is by far the largest issue.