This 1939 half-crown was struck in .750 silver and has a nominal weight of 14.14 grams. (I took special note of this fact because among my US$0.17 junk-box purchases that particular day was a counterfeit Panama 1-balboa.)
The half-crown was the highest denomination coin introduced by the Irish in their famous “Barnyard” series of 1928, and remained Ireland’s highest-denominated coin until the 10-shilling piece was introduced in 1966. Decimalization was soon to follow, however, and—unlike the shilling and the florin, which continued to circulate as 5P and 10P pieces—the half-crown was retired as of 1 January 1970.
The 1939 half-crown, along with the other Irish coins of that date, are the first of their respective types, and represent an important departure from the original series of 1928. The country name is surely the most obvious change: “SAORSTAT EIREANN,” or “Irish Free State,” has become “EIRE,” simply, “Ireland.”
The name change derives from Ireland having adopted a new constitution in 1937. (It is sometimes said that Ireland’s change of status—and the confusion at that time surrounding the succession to the British throne—were not coincidental.)
1938 was a year without new Irish coinage, as the changeover took some time. The opportunity for change was somewhat serendipitous in the eyes of mint officials, because it offered a chance to correct the (metal) flow problems they had encountered in producing the 1928 coinage, problems which particularly afflicted the larger diameter coins such as the penny and the half-crown.
Consolidating the date—which is broken into two parts in the 1928 series—then moving it out of the fields and positioning it near the rim, was one strategy to improve striking quality.
The change in the number of harp strings (from 16 to 14) is also notable, but I cannot seem to locate any reason for it (such as a change in the number of counties or some such), so I’m inclined to think of it as a simple reworking of the design for technical (metal flow, again?) or aesthetic reasons.
Mintage of the 1939 half-crown was 888,000, the most of any year since 1928. But the end of Ireland’s silver half-crown was close at hand. The final year of circulation-quantity production was 1942, and only about 1,000 pieces were coined in 1943.
There would be no more new Irish half-crowns until the copper-nickel coins of 1951. By then, Ireland would become (1949) the Republic of Ireland, but the elegant simplicity of this 1939 redesign would continue. Eire.
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