WHYTE'S THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR TIMED ON-LINE AUCTION 17 MAY TO 7 JUNE 2024

159 Coins & Tokens THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR · FRIDAY 7 JUNE 2024 412 1928. Irish Free State’s first coinage. A proof set. Halfcrown, florin, shilling, sixpence, threepence, penny, halfpenny and farthing. Provenance: Whyte’s, 16 April, 2011, Lot 477. Condition: Fleur de coin in original box of issue, the box scuffed in parts. By 1926 the Irish Free State was ready to issue its own coinage and by the time the Coinage Act was enacted in 1927 a design competition was under way. The judging panel was headed up by W..B Yeats . The shortlist of seven included “foreign” names including the great Swedish sculptor Carl Milles and the American, Paul Manship, as well as English artist Percy Metcalfe whose designs were chosen. Basic guidelines were laid out: the harp should be on the coins, the inscription should be in Irish and “no effigies of modern persons should be included”. The brief eventually went further in asking for animals native to Ireland to be the subjects of the obverse of the coins. Estimate €400-€500 (approx £340-£430) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 412 413 Fifty ECU gold proof, 1990. 15g 22 carat, 15g. Condition: Fleur de coin in original presentation box. Estimate €600-€700 (approx £510-£600) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 413