Central Bank throws birthday for banknotes with €10 and €20 coins

JUST as people are pulling in the purse strings, the Central Bank threw a birthday party for banknotes.

In spite of the times, the country’s banking watchdog is launching €10 and€20 coins to celebrate the first official Irish cash printed by its predecessor, the Currency Commission.

That was in 1929 – the same year as the Wall Street Crash. Now eight decades on, the Central Bank has come over all nostalgic with a rose-tinted remembrance of the birth of money in the country and a nod to how far we’ve come since those tumultuous days.

Without so much as a hint of irony, the bank’s deputy director general Brian Halpin revealed the new coins would feature a worker toiling in the fields, in homage to the old so-called Ploughman notes.

“The coins feature an excellent modern adaptation of the original design of the ploughman and his horses, which appeared on each denomination of every banknote,” he said. The notes were first printed in the old Currency Commission building in Foster Place, in central Dublin, 80 years ago this week as new consolidated cash for eight banks in Ireland, which previously issued their own notes.

The commission was set up by the then Free State to establish the Irish pound.

“This design of a traditional Irish ploughing scene was originally created bythe late artist Dermod O’Brien, and it perfectly captured the essence of Irish farming culture,” said Mr Halpin. And, perhaps, perfectly capturing the essence of banking, the public are being asked to pay €36 for a commemorative €10 silver coin and €55 for a €20gold coin.

A pair of the limited edition silver and gold commemorative pieces also come in a double box set, at the knock-down price of €90 for €30 worth of coins – before postage charges.

Order forms are available from the Central Bank.