Tag Archives: coin design

Coins, Designs and Devil Worship

13 Replies

Irish 50p – the harp taht was first used in 1928

We had a good meeting a the Numismatic Society of Nottinghamshire last night – Dr Kevin Clancy from the Royal Mint as the speaker. It was an entertaining look at coin designing and one of the few times I have got to the end of the talk and wished there had been more. Julia came with me and even she enjoyed it. I did have a wry smile at one point when he described a committee that included a prince, a couple of museum directors and a peer as being “from all walks of life”.  Not quite my idea of what the phrase means, but there you go . . .

Strangely, for a talk on UK coins design, it started off with the Percy Metcalfe designs for the Irish Free State coinage of 1927. They are an iconic set, with a cohesive feel and excellent modelling of the animals. There was controversy about the set, particularly as Metcalfe was English, but the design also came in for criticism. The best quote is the one from the priest.

“If these pagan symbols once get a hold, then is the thin edge of the wedge of Freemasonry sunk into the very life of our Catholicity, for the sole object of having these pagan symbols instead of religious emblems on our coins is to wipe out all traces of religion from our minds, to forget the ‘land of saints,’ and beget a land of devil-worshippers, where evil may reign supreme“

If there’s one thing you can criticise the Irish for, it certainly isn’t a lack of religion.

Sad to say, although I realise our coinage developed over time and I am very fond of some of our coins, the Irish set is far better than anything we have ever done. Even our new set suffers from things like the presence of a dormouse (most people don’t know what one is) and the Puffin with the ungainly wings. However, it’s the salmon that is the worst – nearly 100 years have passed, we have new technology and techniques, and we still haven’t bettered Metcalfe’s salmon of 1928.

Fascinating stuff. Well it is for some of us.

Irish 50p – Woodcock – originally on Metcalfe’s farthing. It looked better whe it was smaller . . .

History in the Making

12 Replies

A little tiredness, a touch of sloth and I’m on the fourteeth day of the challenge with 26 posts done. I was ahead, I’m now behind.

Today was a busy day on eBay and a reasonably busy one in the shop. This is good, because we are there to be busy.

For the second day in a row we sold a lot of 1973 Proof 50p coins.

That’s the one with the ring of hands, which commemorates our membership of the EEC, as the EU was known at the time. This was exciting stuff in 1973, a whole new world of international relations and the first new decimal coin design.

How things change in just a few years.

It’s forty-seven years later, we have so many new designs of coin that it’s both disorientating and embarrassing, and we are leaving the EU. If the figures are to be believed, and I’d rather believe figures than politicians, it has already cost us a lot of money in terms of lost growth and could cost us a lot more.

We might do better as a result of leaving, who can tell? But my forecast is that when they close the lid of my cardboard coffin, people will still be arguing about it.

I know one thing – the quality of debate has not improved. Someone buttonholed Julia on the bus to talk about the importance of taking power back into our own hands and being able, once more, to enjoy bent bananas. Someone brought their grandson into the shop today, and had a very similar meander through their few remaining brain cells. It seems that today is the firsdt day of a new democracy and we are once again free to enjoy the benefits of bright green mushy peas and bent bananas.

What is it with these people and their bent bananas?

All foods are regulated, and have been since well before our membership of the EEC. If they weren’t, we would still be adulterating bread with alum and feeding kids sweets made with poisonous dyes.

So, what did I do on the day life changed forever?

Nothing much, just parcelled up nibe 50p pieces with an EEC design and listened to someone’s grandma talk rubbish.

History passed me by.

For an example of how coin design has deteriorated, look at out new Brexit 50p. A work-experience kid with a fancy font on a computer could have designed that. It’s pathetic.

1973 50p