Mr. Yeats and the Beastly Coins

February 1, 2021 3:57 AM

In 1926, the Irish Free State (at the time still a Dominion of the British Empire) decided to create its own coinage, and asked Senator WB Yeats to chair a committee to choose the design for the coins. "Mr. Yeats and the Beastly Coins"(2016) is a short film (12 min) describing the process, which wasn't without controversy.

Some more information about the coins and the coin design competition is also available in an article called "Controversy follows 1927 Irish coin design competition results". The designs chosen can be seen more clearly at the Irish Central Bank site (also including the later pre-Euro decimal currency).

posted by scorbet (10 comments total)

Maude Gonne MacBride – a hard-line Republican and vehement critic of the ‘Free State government:

“the coins were entirely suitable for the Free State: designed by an Englishman, minted in England, representative of English values, paid for by the Irish people”

Irish Truth

“was glad the committee had at least restrained itself from decorating the coins with borders of interlacing lines of sausages, or alternating eggs and butter pats”

One anonymous critic, identified by the Irish Independent as a priest, wrote:

“If these pagan symbols once get a hold, then is the thin edge of the wedge of Freemasonry sunk into the very life of our Catholicity, for the sole object of having these pagan symbols instead of religious emblems on our coins is to wipe out all traces of religion from our minds, to forget the ‘land of saints,’ and beget a land of devil-worshippers, where evil may reign supreme“

So yeah I think we can describe reviews as “mixed”
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:11 AM on February 1, 2021 [3 favorites]

HTTP://My.Lovely.Horse
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:13 AM on February 1, 2021

Common Irish people liked them though! I like Yeats sentiment that the coins were designed for those that look at them the most - children and artists. And I would add, common class people for whom that much money is very dear may look at the coins more as well.
posted by bluefly at 4:38 AM on February 1, 2021 [6 favorites]

This was lovely, informative, and thought provoking. I enjoyed the touches of dry Irish sense of humour in the narration.

It seems to me that at the time, the literal and figurative state of Ireland was in such an uncomfortable place (as part of the empire still) that to come up with a design scheme that expressed what it was to be Irish was always going to be inherently uncomfortable too. The animal scheme was probably the best way to thread that needle. The idea that the coins were designed “to delight those that look longest at coinage: artists and children” made me smile, even if it sounds a bit ex post facto.

Thanks for posting this.
posted by Concordia at 5:27 AM on February 1, 2021 [4 favorites]

the literal and figurative state of Ireland was in such an uncomfortable place (as part of the empire still)

It was a pretty odd time - the country was very much under the shadow of the War of Independence and the Civil War. As it mentions in the video, 1926 would have been just 3 years after the end of the latter, and the division caused by it was still very present. At the same time, there were efforts like the new coins and the Shannon Hydroelectric Scheme to look to the future. (The latter is particularly impressive - it was the largest hydroelectric station in the world for a brief period until Hoover Dam was built).
posted by scorbet at 6:40 AM on February 1, 2021 [3 favorites]

I remember getting the "salmon" florins and 10p coins a lot in Glasgow. Partly because of our relative proximity to Ireland, but mostly because my dad worked out of Dublin for a few years and wasn't careful with the small change.
posted by scruss at 9:21 AM on February 1, 2021 [2 favorites]

I adored the animal coins as a kid! Way more fun than the sterling equivalents.
posted by Tapioca at 11:38 AM on February 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Is it possible that the sculpture ascribed to Percy Metcalfe shown at 5:17 is actually “Wipers” by Charles Sergeant Jagger, a replica of which is here?
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:17 PM on February 1, 2021

I, also, loved this movie and the touched of humor in it (people from abroad complaining there was no reference to god, for example) and I learned a bunch of things I'd only sort of known about Irish history. And I loved these coins when I was a kid! Them and the Australian animal coins remain some of my favorites in my collection.
posted by jessamyn at 3:38 PM on February 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Although pedants would always tell you that the animal on the threepenny bit was a hare, to us kids it was always a bunny rabbit. Also the narrator is a gifted comedian/novelist/journalist.
posted by night_train at 2:04 AM on February 2, 2021