From Viking Dublin to Free State: coins for all eras

An expatriate Dubliner's collection of Irish coins comes up for sale in the capital next week. The "Terenure" collection, as it is being called, was built up over a period of 20 years, from the early 1960s onwards. The most important such selection of coinage to come on the market in this country, it is to be sold in more than 400 lots by Whyte's of Marlborough Street on Friday evening. Every period is covered, from the very first coinage struck in Dublin by Viking settlers around 995AD to Irish Free State coins of 1928. The collection is estimated to have a total value in the region of £90,000-£100,000.

The auction will begin with two items of early Irish money. The first is a rare piece of Celtic gold ring money (estimate £2,500-£3,000) and the second is a small hoard of Viking silver ingots found in Co Limerick, circa 1840 (£4,000-£5,000). The 25 HibernoNorse coins on offer include a helmeted bust silver penny, circa 1060-65AD (£750-£1,000) while a tiny farthing of King John as Lord of Ireland, dating from 1190-99, is expected to make £500-£600. An Edward I silver penny made by Dublin moneyer, Richard Olof is estimated at £1,300-£1,500. The reign of Henry VIII is represented by a chipped coin with his initials and those of Anne Boleyn (£35-£40), as well as those of the king with a later wife, Katherine Howard, on a rare halfgroat of 1540 (£1,500-£2,000).

The troubled 17th century also features in the sale through the inclusion of such items as a Dublin 1643 half-crown issued during Charles I's struggle against the Roundheads, and from the later Jacobite wars are over 200 examples of "gunmoney", so-called because they were made from brass or similar alloy taken from old cannon. The estimates for these range from £30 to more than £500. Among the more recent examples is a 1927 silver sixpence trial piece, submitted by Publio Morbiducci for the Currency Commission competition (£1,800-£2,000) and a 1939 proof set of coins (£1,600-£1,800). The auction, which starts at 5 p.m., also includes an assortment of British and foreign coins, banknotes, medals and various military books.

In association with the Numismatic Society of Ireland, Whyte's is sponsoring the Irish International Coin Fair next weekend in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin.