Did you keep any pre-decimalisation Irish coins and if so what are they worth? Should you keep pennies and punts when they're replaced by euros and cents in 2002? Do you have Irish coins which you think might be valuable? Mr Ian Whyte, director of Whyte's auctioneers of coins and collectibles in Marlborough Street in Dublin advises people to keep "brilliant uncirculated coins" but says there is "not much point in keeping circulated coins" of the last 50 or 60 years.
Coins are graded according to rarity and condition. The most valuable are the brilliant uncirculated category. Then comes uncirculated but not lustrous followed by extremely fine (very nice but some wear), very fine (a bit more wear), fine and finally low grade.
So were we codding ourselves keeping circulated pre-decimalisation pennies and shillings? Yes, says Mr Whyte. However a £5 bag of 1,200 brilliant uncirculated pennies bought in 1970 would now be worth up to £150.
It took until as late as 1928 before the Irish Free State issued its first coins. Poet W.B. Yeats chaired the committee which eventually chose designs by Percy Metcalfe for the new coinage.
He designed the penny with the hen; the halfpenny with the pig; the farthing (a quarter of a penny) with the woodcock; the three penny piece with the hare; the sixpenny piece with the wolfhound; the shilling with the bull; the florin (a two shilling piece) with the salmon and the half crown (two shillings and sixpence) with the horse.
At decimalisation in 1971, the shilling changed to a five pence piece. The bull from the shilling was kept and is retained still on the smaller five pence piece of recent years. The salmon survived the change from the florin to the 10 pence piece, including its recent reduction in size.
The horse on Irish coinage disappeared for some years when the half crown became obsolete with a new value of 12 and a half pence at decimalisation. But the horse reappeared with the introduction of the 20 pence piece in 1986. The farthing ceased being legal tender in 1960, but a special minting was struck for collectors in 1966. Its woodcock resurfaced on the 50 pence piece which was introduced in 1970 the year before decimalisation - to enable people to get used to the new coinage.
What are the most valuable Irish coins? A brilliant uncirculated 1943 florin fetched £10,000 at Whyte's last year while another in lesser condition fetched £1,800. Mr Whyte explains: "They minted a lot of florins in 1943 but then found they didn't need them. They melted them down and perhaps only a few hundred coins got into circulation."
Another to check for in your old piggy bank is the 1943 half crown. In mint condition, it should fetch £1,000 while even in poor condition it can be worth about £50. As with the florin, fewer were issued that year than were minted.
The 1937 half crown is another valuable, low-mintage coin. In good condition, it can fetch up to £1,000. The 1940 penny and halfpenny are also scarce. In ordinary condition either might only be worth £2, but in brilliant uncirculated condition a single penny or halfpenny should fetch £130.
All silver Irish coins from the three pence to the half crown struck between 1928 and 1943 have a high content of silver. These are worth eight to 10 times their face value for scrap even if they're in terrible condition.
The earliest Irish coin is the silver penny issued by King Sitric (circa 995-1020 AD). These can fetch anything from £10 to £500. "Gunmoney" coinage issued by King James II in 1689-1690 can fetch between £150 and £5,000.
