money

money, in the form of coins and banknotes, appeared in Irish society only gradually. Even when money sums are mentioned in historical records, it is not always wise to assume that the payments referred to were made in coin or its analogues.

The first coins found in Ireland are Roman. Single examples are probably modern losses, and others may represent non‐monetary usage in the past. However, Roman hoards, concentrated on the north‐east coast, seem to represent more than casual contact in the 2nd century AD, though the function of these silver denarii in a society where the primary indicator of value seems to have been gold is hard to guess.

By the 8th century Ireland existed in a world where coin use, based on the silver penny or denier, was common. The earliest deniers found in Ireland date from the reign of Offa, king of Mercia 757–96, and mark the beginning of a series of finds of Anglo‐Saxon and, to a lesser extent, Carolingian pieces. From the late 9th century coin hoards appear with increasing frequency. Many were the result of incursions by Vikings, among whom coins were still at this stage a source of bullion, rather than a token of exchange.

The start of Irish coinage proper can be dated to c.997, when pennies closely imitating an English issue were struck under Sitric, king of Dublin 989–1036. Hiberno‐Norse issues had initial international acceptance, but later became primarily an internal currency. Some later issues may have had ecclesiastical links.

Following the Anglo‐Norman invasion the new rulers appear to have imposed their monetary as well as their political practices with remarkable speed. Coins were first struck in Dublin c.1185, with larger issues of mainly halfpennies with a few farthings from Dublin, Waterford, Kilkenny, and Limerick, as well as a separate issue from John de Courcy at Carrickfergus and Downpatrick. From c.1207 new coins, mostly pennies, appear to have been used for collecting and transferring money rather than for local consumption. A fresh coinage, intended as a complete renewal of the circulating medium, was struck in Dublin c.1252–4, for a total of £43,000. By the second half of the 14th century, in response to political changes (see gaelic recovery) money had begun to devalue in weight and condition, and poor‐quality foreign coin was tolerated. Enactments by the Irish parliament in 1460 probably at best legitimized the existing situation, and standards of production of Irish coin continued to deteriorate.

In the 16th century both Henry VIII and Elizabeth issued debased coin to raise revenue. Ireland was flooded with poor‐quality coin, including issues demonetized in England; good coin, internationally negotiable and commanding a premium within Ireland, remained in the hands of a privileged few. Under James I this policy was reversed. Irish silver shillings and sixpences were minted, English sterling was given a one‐third premium, and base coin was valued at slightly below bullion content.

From the middle of the 17th century foreign, mainly Spanish, silver, given legal tender at officially stated values from 1641, began to play a growing part in the Irish economy, reducing Irish and English coin to a small part of the circulating medium. Petty and others identified the lack of specie as a major obstacle to economic development. The problem intensified from the 1690s, as rising silver prices inhibited the issue of small coin in Britain. Proposals for a copper issue in the 1720s were overwhelmed by political controversy (see wood's halfpence), but the issue of halfpennies from 1736 eased the situation. Despite the shortage of coin, most banknotes remained of high denominations. Outside Dublin, particularly in the north, trade depended instead on a sophisticated system of discounting bills and reliance on mutual obligation.

Since 1701 the offical value of the Irish pound had been fixed by proclamation at £108 6s. 7d. to £100 (English) (13d. Irish to an English shilling), although in practice the rate given for money moving between the two kingdoms varied with economic conditions. In 1797 the revolutionary war led to the suspension of gold payments in both kingdoms. Gold continued to circulate in Ulster, but elsewhere banks flooded the market with low‐value notes. By 1803–4 the amount of paper money in circulation had trebled, and the premium on Irish bills in London had risen to 20 per cent. Exchange rates stabilized from 1805, though with a further temporary depreciation following the end of the war. From 6 January 1826 the two currencies were amalgamated, although the Irish pound lingered on in accounts for many years.

Notions of a dual economy in pre‐Famine Ireland, with geographically separate commercialized and subsistence sectors, have been largely abandoned. But the progress of monetarization, as opposed to commercialization, remained uneven, as was evident in the continued prevalence up to the 1840s of cottier tenancies. In the second half of the 19th century rising bank deposits, growing numbers of shops and commercial travellers, and a widening range of consumer goods all testified to the extension of the money economy into even the most remote areas. By this time the Irish and British monetary systems were largely integrated, although minor regional differences, such as the prevalence (shared with Scotland but not England) of the £1 note, remained.

Partition had little immediate effect. The first coins of independent Ireland were dated 1928, designed to a definite brief, in a very modern style. Although made in the Royal Mint, the shillings, florins (two‐shilling pieces), and half‐crowns were 750 pure silver, better than the 500 that the First World War had forced on the United Kingdom. British coins continued to circulate, and those of the new state became fully acceptable in Northern Ireland by the late 1930s. The last silver issue was in 1943, replaced by cupronickel when coinage resumed in 1951. Decimalization followed the British pattern, but following the break with sterling the opportunity was taken to use coins of different size and shape.

See also banking.

Bibliography

Seaby, P., and and Purvey, F. , Coins and Tokens of Ireland (1970)

Robert Heslip