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Abstract
This article examines the political context of the new Irish coinage that was introduced in 1928. It attempts to illustrate how the coins of the Irish Free State were products of the political circumstances of their time. The article also analyses the political negotiations concerning the future of the large quantity of British coins that remained in circulation in the Irish Free State. The conclusion will argue that the Irish coins issued in 1928 were of considerable political importance as symbols of national identity visible to the general public on a daily basis. Symbols of this nature were of particular significance to the Irish Free State because its status as a sovereign state was open to dispute in the 1920s and 1930s. The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 made it clear that the Irish Free State was a Dominion of the British Empire. This article will argue that the political background to the introduction of the new Irish coins reflects wider controversies that dominated Irish politics and external relations in the years between the two world wars.
Notes
1. Colgan, For Want of Good Money, 176.
2. Although these instructions were not supposed to be strictly binding on the coinage committee they were treated as such in practice. See Leo T. McCauley, “Summary of the Proceedings of the Committee,” in Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 19–34 at 20–1; Cleeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 25–39 at 26–7; NAI DT S6244A, lecture by Thomas Bodkin, November 30, 1928 and NAI DF F17/23/29, interim report, August 6, 1926. Blythe would later make it clear during a dispute with the committee that its functions were only advisory in nature and that he made all final decisions. NAI DF F17/23/29, McElligott to Yeats, November 4, 1927.
3. NAI DT S6244A, lecture by Thomas Bodkin, November 30, 1928. See also NAI DF F17/23/29, J. Brennan to E. Blythe, October 1925.
4. NAI DT S6244A, lecture by Thomas Bodkin, November 30, 1928. See also NAI DF F17/23/29, J. Brennan to R.A. Johnson, October 2, 1925.
5. Article 1 provided: “Ireland shall have the same constitutional status in the Community of Nations known as the British Empire as the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand and the Union of South Africa …” Article 2 of the Treaty linked key aspects of the status of the Irish Free State to that enjoyed by Canada. The classic account of the relations between the Irish Free State and the Commonwealth is Harkness, Restless Dominion.
6. See, for example, Article 66 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State. See also Mohr, “Foundations of Irish Extra-territorial Legislation,” 86–110.
7. Noel-Baker, Present Juridical Status of the British Dominions, 356.
8. Seanad Debates, vol. 14, col. 1625, July 23, 1931.
9. Swift MacNeill, Studies in the Constitution of the Irish Free State, vii–ix, 9–10; E.M. Stephens, “The Constitution,” in Saorstát Éireann Official Handbook, 72–81; Dáil Debates, vol. 17, cols. 756–61, December 15, 1926.
10. See, for example, Article 5: “Ireland is a sovereign, independent, democratic state.”
11. Republic of Ireland Act 1948.
12. Seanad Debates, vol. 6, col. 501, March 3, 1926.
13. See, for example, Morris, Our Own Devices, 173; Caffrey, “Nationality and Representation,” 75–89.
14. Saker, South African Flag Controversy.
15. Irish Times, April 21, 1976.
16. It should, however, be noted that in 1922 a number of British stamps with portraits of King George V were overprinted with “Rialtas Sealadach na hÉireann 1922” or “Saorstát Éireann 1922.”
17. Irish Times, December 7, 1922.
18. Keith, The King and the Imperial Crown, 358.
19. The commission to provide this portrait was given to Sir John Lavery, RA and the portrait is based on his wife Hazel Lavery. The resulting series of bank notes are popularly, though unofficially, known as “Lavery notes.”
20. TNA-PRO CAB 24/204, memorandum on the “Operation of Dominion Legislation,” December 1928.
21. Ibid.
22. Keith, Responsible Government in the Dominions, 1187.
23. Section 8, Coinage Act (Australia) 1909 and Section 20, Canadian Currency Act 1910.
24. Keith, Responsible Government in the Dominions, 1182–4.
25. TNA-PRO CAB 24/204, memorandum on the “Operation of Dominion Legislation,” December 1928; Keith, Responsible Government in the Dominions, 1185. The Sydney mint was discontinued in 1926 under the Sydney Mint (Discontinuance) Proclamation, 1926.
26. This title was used until 1953 when it was removed on the basis of a new conception of the Commonwealth. Chamberlain, Guide to Numismatics, 17.
27. Section 91 (14) and (20) of the British North America Act 1867 and Article 51 (xii) of the Commonwealth of Australia Act 1900.
28. NAI DT S3875, T.A. Smiddy to W.T. Cosgrave, n.d. 1922; Secretary of President’s Office to all ministers, December 11, 1922. See also Moynihan, Currency and Central Banking in Ireland, 20. Officials within the British Treasury joked that a future Irish currency might be called the “Collins”. TNA Treasury F4447/1, memorandum of O. Niemeyer, n.d. 1922.
29. This was reflected in a series of articles in the 1923 volume of the journal Studies on the possibility of introducing a new currency for the Free State that revealed deep-seated fears of rampant inflation and disruption of trade with the United Kingdom. McCartan, “New Currency for the Free State,” 77, with responses by leading academics and bankers at 191, 193, 195, 198. See also Dáil Debates, vol. 14, cols. 161–3, January 27, 1926.
30. Ernest Blythe declined to give an assurance that the introduction of the new coinage was not a stepping-stone to a new currency. Dáil Debates, vol. 14, col. 196, January 27, 1926.
31. NAI DT S3875, Memorandum for Executive Council, June 14, 1924.
32. NAI DT S3875, memorandum on “Silver Coinage and Ten Shilling Currency Notes,” H.S. Guinness, February 2, 1924.
33. NAI DF F17/23/29, memorandum on proposed coinage for the Irish Free State, August 31, 1925.
34. Ibid. H.S. Guinness estimated that £1,473,136 of silver coinage was in circulation in the Irish Free State.
35. Dáil Debates, vol. 28, cols. 834–5, March 6, 1929.
36. Dáil Debates, vol. 14, col. 175, January 27, 1926.
37. NAI DT S3875, “Memorandum on Token Coinage,” Department of Finance, n.d. 1924.
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid.
40. Dáil Debates, vol. 14, col. 178, January 27, 1926, and cols. 169, 437, 439–42, 444, 449, February 4, 1926.
41. NAI 2002/14/603, South African Coinage Act 1922 and Canadian Currency Act 1910.
42. DF F17/23/29, Brennan to Johnson, November 16, 1925. The only exception can be found in Section 4 of the Coinage Act 1926 which imposed a fine of £100 for the issuing of unofficial coins or tokens intended to be used as money. See Coinage Offences Act 1861 and Coinage Act 1870.
43. Section 2, Coinage Act 1926.
44. TNA Treasury F4447/2, T.M. Healy, Governor General, to L.S. Amery, Dominions Secretary, May 3, 1926; NAI GOVG 1/F749.
45. NAI DT S3875, Acting Secretary, Department of Finance to President, December 14, 1922.
46. Ibid. See also Dáil Debates, vol. 14, cols. 184–6, 190–1, January 27, 1926.
47. Dáil Debates, vol. 14, cols. 192–3, January 27, 1926.
48. Section 5 of the Coinage Act 1926 confirmed the continuance of British coins as legal tender but Section 6 gave the Executive Council the power to terminate this position by means of statutory instrument.
49. This followed a recommendation made by the Department of Finance in 1924. NAI DT S3875, “Memorandum on Token Coinage,” Department of Finance, n.d. 1924.
50. Ibid. See also Dáil Debates, vol. 14, col. 160, January 27, 1926.
51. NAI DT S3875, “Memorandum on Token Coinage,” Department of Finance, n.d. 1924.
52. Seanad Debates, vol. 6, cols. 509–10, March 3, 1926.
53. Ibid., cols. 506–7.
54. Coinage Acts 1942 and 1950.
55. Aristophanes, “The Frogs,” available at http://www.archive.org (accessed October 3, 2012).
56. J.P. Colbert, “The Banking and Currency System,” in Saorstát Éireann Official Handbook, 97–108.
57. NAI DF F17/23/29, R.A. Johnson to J. Brennan, September 25, 1925.
58. NAI DF F17/23/29, J. Brennan to R.A. Johnson, October 2, 1925.
59. NAI DF F17/23/29, R.A. Johnson to J. Brennan, November 12, 1925.
60. NAI DF F17/23/29, J. Brennan to E. Blythe, October 1925.
61. NAI DT S6244A, committee on coinage designs appointed by the Minister for Finance, May 19, 1926. Langley A. West, Master of the Corporation of Gold and Silversmiths of Ireland, was originally proposed to sit on the committee. NAI DF F17/23/29, J. Brennan to D. O’Brien, May 19, 1926. West declined on the grounds of being “utterly crippled with rheumatism.” NAI DF F17/23/29, L.A. West to J. Brennan, May 25, 1926. Manning Robertson, fellow of the Royal Architectural Society, was considered to fill West’s place. NAI DF F17/23/29, L.T. McCauley to J. Brennan, June 1, 1926. Barry Egan was finally chosen to fill the final seat on the committee. NAI DF F17/23/29, L.T. McCauley to J. Brennan, June 3, 1926.
62. NAI DT S6244A, committee on coinage designs appointed by the Minister for Finance, May 19, 1926.
63. NAI DT S6244A, “The Irish Coinage Designs”; Morris, Our Own Devices, 87.
64. NAI DF F17/23/29, J. Brennan to E. Blythe, October 1925.
65. Ibid. See also J.J. McElligott, “Irish Coinage Past and Present,” in Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 9–18 at 15–16; Cleeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 21–4 at 23–4.
66. NAI DT S6244A, “The Irish Coinage Designs.”
67. Foster, W.B. Yeats, 333.
68. NAI DT S6244A, committee on coinage designs – interim report, August 6, 1926.
69. NAI DT S6244A, letter of invitation sent by Leo T. McCauley, Department of Finance, September 1926. The committee briefly considered recommending the use of the Ullard harp as a third model. NAI DF F17/23/29, interim report, August 6, 1926 and McElligott to McCauley, August 9, 1926. Although the Trinity harp was ultimately selected, the Dalway harp also had its supporters. NAI DF F17/23/29, McElligott to Blythe, August 9, 1926.
70. NAI DT S6244A, schedule to interim report of the committee of coinage designs, par. 4.
71. Ibid.
72. Ernest Blythe tried to insist on the shaggy coat but relented in the face of opposition from the coinage committee. TCDMS Bodkin Papers, 6963/24, meeting of the coinage committee, October 14, 1927, J.J. McElligott to secretary, committee on coinage designs, October 21, 1927; 6963/29, Leo T. McCauley to coinage committee, February 15, 1928.
73. TCDMS Bodkin Papers, 6963/26, coinage committee to J.J. McElligott, October 29, 1927.
74. TNA Treasury F4447/1, J. Brennan to Otto Niemeyer, April 16, 1925.
75. NAI DT S6244A, committee on coinage designs – interim report, August 6, 1926.
76. TNA Treasury F4447/1, J. Brennan to Otto Niemeyer, April 16, 1925.
77. NAI DF F17/23/29, McElligott to Blythe, August 9, 1926.
78. NAI DF F17/23/29, Hogan to McElligott, December 14, 1927.
79. NAI DT S6244A, “The Irish Coinage Designs,” lecture delivered by Thomas Bodkin at the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin, November 30, 1928.
80. For example, Hansard, House of Lords, vol. 73, cols. 508–9, March 13, 1929.
81. NAI DF F17/23/29, memorandum on proposed coinage for the Irish Free State, August 31, 1925.
82. NAI DT S6244A, “The Irish Coinage Designs,” lecture delivered by Thomas Bodkin at the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin, November 30, 1928.
83. The committee on coinage design admitted that they had considered the use of a ram instead of a pig for the halfpenny coin. NAI DT S6244A, committee on coinage designs – interim report, August 1926. Ernest Blythe made clear his preference for a ram design. NAI DT S6244A, Leo T. McCauley to Secretary, Executive Council, 9 August 1926. The final invitation to the artists provided a choice between a boar, sow and a ram for the half penny. NAI DT S6244A, letter of invitation sent by Leo T. McCauley, Department of Finance, September 1926. Several artists, including Percy Metcalfe, provided designs depicting a ram but this animal was not chosen for inclusion in the final series. NAI DT S6244A, committee on coinage designs – report on designs submitted in connection with the limited competition, March 22, 1927. A ram design was again considered but rejected for inclusion among the designs for the Irish decimal coinage. Moynihan, Currency and Central Banking in Ireland, 33.
84. NAI DF F17/23/29, coinage committee to McElligott, October 25, 1927; TCDMS Bodkin Papers, 6963/24, handwritten note on the back of J.J. McElligott to secretary, committee on coinage designs, October 21, 1927.
85. NAI DF F17/23/29, McElligott to Yeats, October 27, 1927 and November 4, 1927.
86. NAI DF F17/23/29, coinage committee to McCauley, October 29, 1927.
87. W.B. Yeats, “What we did or tried to do,” in Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 1–8 at 2; Cleeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 9–20 at 10.
88. Foster, W.B. Yeats, 333.
89. NAI DF F17/23/29, J.J. McElligott to E. Blythe, August 9, 1926. The committee also rejected Yeats’s additional suggestions of a barley sheaf and a greyhound. Foster, W.B. Yeats, 333.
90. J.J. McElligott of the Department of Finance proposed a sheaf of wheat. NAI DF F17/23/29, McElligott to Blythe, August 9, 1926. This suggestion was later taken up by Ernest Blythe. NAI DT S6244A, Leo T. McCauley to Secretary, Executive Council, August 9, 1926; NAI DF F17/23/29, McCauley to McElligott, August 24, 1926. W.B. Yeats also proposed the inclusion of a barley sheaf. Foster, W.B. Yeats, 333.
91. Leo T. McCauley, “The Summary of the Proceedings of the Committee,” in Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 19–34 at 20–1; Cleeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 25–39 at 26–7; Coinage (Dimensions and Designs) Order 1928 (S.I. No. 76/1928).
92. NAI DF F 17/23/29, J. Brennan to R.A. Johnson, October 2, 1925.
93. NAI DT S6244A, “The Irish Coinage Designs.”
94. The insertion of accents over the Irish words caused some difficulty and delayed the minting of the coins. NAI DF F17/23/29, account of meeting between J.J. McElligott, secretary of Department of Finance, and deputy master of the Royal Mint, n.d.
95. W.B. Yeats, “What we did or tried to do,” in Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 1–8 at 2; Cleeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 9–20 at 11. This method of choosing an artist by means of a limited competition was admired by the Royal Mint, which recommended this method for use in designing new coins for Australia. NAI DT S6244A, “The Irish Coinage Designs.”
96. W.B. Yeats, “What we did or tried to do,” in Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 1–8 at 2; Cleeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 9–20 at 11.
97. NAI DT S6244A, coinage designs, summary of views of the ministers. The designs provided by the seven artists can be accessed in Coinage of Saorstát Éireann. Jerome Connor did not restrict his designs to the animals laid down by the coinage committee. He submitted a design of a woman reaping in a field with a round tower in the background for the half crown and a boy’s head for the penny. These alternative designs failed to gain support with the coinage committee or the Irish government.
98. Yeats, “What we did or tried to do,” 12. The coinage committee hoped that Mestrović’s design might be included on a five shilling coin that might be added to the series. This was refused on the grounds that no such denomination was recognised by the Coinage Act 1926 and that additional legislation would be necessary. NAI DF F17/23/29, McElligott to Bodkin, November 8, 1927.
99. Yeats, “What we did or tried to do,” 9–20 at 12.
100. M. Valdez Moses, “The Poet as Politician,” Reason (2001), available at http://reason.com/issues/february-2001 (accessed April 12, 2012).
101. Percy Metcalfe sent photographs that depicted his designs in coin-sized formats. NAI DF F17/23/29, secretary, Department of the President to secretary, Department of Finance, April 26, 1927.
102. NAI DT S6244A, coinage designs, summary of views of the ministers. The patterns submitted by Morbiducci evoked a great deal of interest in the years that followed with extremely high prices paid for surviving patterns and at least one proposal that they be re-used for a new series of Irish coins. One such proposal was made by Fianna Fáil TD and future Minister for Education Gerard Brady in 1980. Evening Herald, May 21, 1980.
103. Brian Cleeve, “Afterword,” in W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 68–75 at 72.
104. See NAI DT S6244A, “The Irish Coinage Designs”; McCauley, 1972, 38–9.
105. NAI DT S6244A, committee on coinage designs – report on designs submitted in connection with the limited competition, March 22, 1927. The relatively modest level of the fee quoted by Metcalfe did not prevent the Irish government from seeking to reduce it further. Metcalfe proved resourceful in resisting these efforts, insisting that he had cut already cut down his prices to the minimum because he regarded the Irish Free State as a comparatively poor country. DF F17/23/29, Department of Finance note to Mr Leydon, June 11, 1927. The large number of changes to the original designs required by the coinage committee and the Irish government ensured that Metcalfe actually had to be paid more than his original price. DF F17/23/29, McElligott to Metcalfe, May 3, 1928.
106. Irish Press, July 8, 1964.
107. Irish Times, August 18, 1964.
108. Cleeve, W.B Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 73.
109. http://ashteadpottery.com/metcalfe.html (accessed February 18, 2012). Metcalfe subsequently received commissions to design medals for the visit of the Prince of Wales to South Africa and the visit of King Faud I of Egypt to the United Kingdom. Caffrey, “Nationality and Representation,” 75–89 at 86.
110. Metcalfe was also involved in designing the George Cross, the Great Seal of the Realm, the Ludwig Mond medal of 1925 and the Nobel Prize medal. R. Devine, “Percy Metcalfe,” in James McGuire and James Quinn (eds), Dictionary of Irish Biography (Cambridge, 2009), vol. 6, p. 493; Cleeve, W.B Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 73; Caffrey, “Nationality and Representation,” 75–89 at 86.
111. Morris, Our Own Devices, 95.
112. NAI DT S3875, memorandum on “Silver Coinage and Ten Shilling Currency Notes,” H.S. Guinness, February 2, 1924; “Memorandum on Token Coinage,” Department of Finance, n.d. 1924.
113. TNA Treasury, F4447/1, R.A. Johnson to Secretary of the Treasury, March 30, 1922.
114. TNA Treasury F4447/1, R.A. Johnson to Otto Niemeyer, January 26, 1922.
115. TNA Treasury F4447/1, notes on a proposed coinage for Ireland, March 29, 1922.
116. NAI DF F17/23/29, offer of Swiss Metalworks compared with British offer, October 21, 1926; Dáil Debates, vol. 14, col. 161, January 27, 1926. See also TNA Treasury F4447/1, J. Brennan to Otto Niemeyer, July 10, 1924.
117. NAI DT S4517, Cosgrave to Churchill, July 9, 1928.
118. Foster, W.B. Yeats, 334.
119. Thomas Bodkin, “Postscript to ‘Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 1928,’” in Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 43–7 at 43; Cleeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 55–60 at 55.
120. Morris, Our Own Devices, 87.
121. NAI DF F17/23/29, R.A. Johnson to J. Brennan, November 12, 1925.
122. NAI DT S6244A, “The Irish Coinage Designs.”
123. TCDMS 7001/1740/3, W.B. Yeats to Thomas Bodkin, December 20, 1928.
124. See Irish Independent, July 20 and July 26, 1927.
125. Dáil Debates, vol. 20, col. 1199, August 2, 1927.
126. Bodkin, “Postscript to ‘Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 1928,’” 43–7 at 44; Cleeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 55–60 at 56.
127. Ibid.
128. Ibid.
129. See Mohr, “Privy Council Appeal.”
130. For example, Bodkin, “Postscript to ‘Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 1928,’” 43–7; Cleeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 55–60.
131. Morris, Our Own Devices, 97–8.
132. Barnes and Nicholson, Leo Amery Diaries, 581–2.
133. The Evening Standard stated: “We may well be jealous of the beautiful new Irish coins,” while the Nation concluded “The Free State has the most beautiful set of coins in the world.” Bodkin, “Postscript to ‘Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 1928,’” 43–7 at 47; Cleeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 60.
134. NAI DF F17/23/29, account of meeting between J.J. McElligott, secretary of Department of Finance, and deputy master of the Royal Mint, n.d.
135. Bodkin, “Postscript to ‘Coinage of Saorstát Éireann, 1928,’” 43–7 at 47; leeve, W.B. Yeats and the Designs of Ireland’s Coinage, 55–60 at 60.
136. NAI DF F17/23/29, Robert Johnson to Joseph Brennan, August 5, 1926.
137. Irish Independent, December 1, 1928.
138. See, for example, Articles 12, 24 and 51.
139. Morris, Our Own Devices, 174.
140. NAI DF F17/23/29, Robert Johnson to Joseph Brennan, August 5, 1926.
141. TNA Treasury F4447/1, R.A. Johnson to Otto Niemeyer, January 26, 1922.
142. For a contrasting opinion, see Morris, Our Own Devices, 102.
143. Dáil Debates, vol. 14, col. 446, February 4, 1926.
144. Morris, Our Own Devices, 102.
145. Irish Times, January 20, 1926.
146. See, for example, https://www.cointalk.com/threads/irish-political-tokens.188964/ (accessed August 15, 2014).
147. Barnes and Nicholson, Leo Amery Diaries, 483.
148. Morris, Our Own Devices, 180–2.
149. Keith, The King and the Imperial Crown, 358.
150. Hansard, House of Lords, vol. 73, cols. 508–9, March 13, 1929.
151. Ibid., 509.
152. Hansard, House of Lords, vol. 73, col. 454, 508–11, March 12, 1929.
153. See the report of the 1929 “Operation of Dominion Legislation” conference. Cmd. 3479 at 35.
154. Dáil Debates, vol. 14, cols. 438, 440–1, 448, February 4, 1926; Seanad Debates, vol. 6, col. 504, March 3, 1926.
155. NAI DT S4623, L.S. Amery to T.M. Healy, April 14, 1927.
156. NAI DT S4517, Churchill to Cosgrave, June 13, 1928.
157. Dáil Debates, vol. 14, col. 448, February 4, 1926; Seanad Debates, vol. 6, col. 508, March 3, 1926.
158. The dispute over the withdrawal of British coins was further complicated by uncertainty as to the total value of silver coinage in circulation in the Irish Free State. The British put forward a figure of £3 million while the Irish estimates were closer to £1.5 million. NAI DT S4517, Churchill to Cosgrave, June 13, 1928; Cosgrave to Churchill, July 9, 1928.
159. NAI DT S4517, Churchill to Cosgrave, June 13, 1928.
160. Ibid.
161. TNA Treasury F4447/4 untitled note by Churchill, April 6, 1928; R.V.N. Hopkins to Chancellor of the Exchequer, July 25, 1928.
162. TNA Treasury F4447/1, financial secretary to Chancellor of the Exchequer, January 25, 1926.
163. NAI DT S4517, Churchill to Cosgrave, June 13, 1928.
164. TNA-PRO CAB 23/57, “Irish Free State – Silver and Currency in,” May 23, 1928. Although Churchill had threatened to introduce legislation banning the importation of silver coins from the Irish Free State he was aware that this measure would not prevent the Irish government from finding other ways to dump silver coins in the United Kingdom, most likely across the border with Northern Ireland. TNA-PRO CAB23/58, “The Irish Free State – silver currency in.” Ernest Blythe had told the Dáil in 1926 that British refusal to accept silver coins “would not prevent us getting rid of the coin at its face value, but the process might be slower”. Dáil Debates, vol. 14, col. 448, February 4, 1926; Seanad Debates, vol. 6, col. 508, March 3, 1926. W.T. Cosgrave raised the possibility of the Irish Free State making certain payments agreed under the “Ultimate Financial Settlement” of 1926 to the British Treasury in the form of silver coins. NAI DT S4517, Cosgrave to Churchill, July 9, 1928. Winston Churchill was adamant that the British government would be under no obligation to accept payments in this form. TNA-PRO CAB 24/197, “Silver and Currency in the Irish Free State,” memorandum by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, July 31, 1928.
165. NAI DT S4517, Cosgrave to Churchill, July 9, 1928.
166. It was estimated that the United Kingdom was accepting £100,000 a year in silver coins from Australia since the introduction of its own coinage in 1910, with a short hiatus between 1918 and 1921, and another £100,000 a year from South Africa since it had introduced its own coinage in 1922. TNA Treasury F4447/4, memorandum on Mr Cosgrave’s letter, July 25, 1928.
167. Ibid.; NAI DT S4517, draft response to Churchill, December 1928. See also Dáil Debates, vol. 14, cols. 448, 451, February 4, 1926.
168. NAI DT S4517, Churchill to Cosgrave, August 28, 1928; TNA-PRO CAB 24/197, “Silver and Currency in the Irish Free State,” memorandum by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, July 31, 1928.
169. The Colonial Conference of 1907 decided:
The Government which issues the coin must bear the cost of its renovation … so long as it remains in circulation; and if circumstance should ever arise to require its withdrawal from circulation the liability would rest on the Government to redeem it at its face value.
In the 1920s the British government argued that this resolution only applied to worn-out silver coins and that the British government could still place limits on how much worn-out silver it accepted in a particular year. TNA Treasury F4447/5, memorandum on “redemption of British silver coins from Dominions and colonies,” n.d.
170. TNA Treasury F4447/5, memorandum on “redemption of British silver coins from Dominions and colonies,” n.d.; TNA-PRO CAB 24/197, “Silver and Currency in the Irish Free State,” memorandum by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, July 31, 1928; NAI DT S4517, Churchill to Cosgrave, August 28, 1928.
171. See, for example, Mohr, “British Imperial Statutes and Irish Law.”
172. NAI DT S4517, draft response to Churchill, December 1928.
173. See, for example, Hansard, House of Lords, vol. 73, cols. 513–14, March 13, 1929; House of Commons, vol. 224, col. 1126, January 31, 1929.
174. Hansard, House of Lords, vol. 73, col. 518, March 13, 1929.
175. Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Act 2.
176. TNA Treasury F4447/4, British Silver Coin in the Irish Free State, March 21, 1927.
177. Ibid.
178. TNA Treasury F4447/2, R.A. Johnson to F.W. Leith Ross, March 2, 1927.
179. TNA Treasury F4447/2, B.G. Catterns to F. Phillips, March 15, 1927.
180. TNA Treasury F4447/3, R.A. Johnson to F.W. Leith Ross, June 16, 1927.
181. TNA Treasury F4447/3, R.A. Johnson to G.G. Whiskard, June 16, 1927.
182. TNA Treasury F4447/1, memorandum by Otto Niemeyer, n.d. 1922.
183. TNA Treasury F4447/1, R.A. Johnson to Secretary of the Treasury, March 30, 1922.
184. TNA Treasury F4447/1, Otto Niemeyer to J. Brennan, July 14, 1924; NAI GOVG 1/F749, L.S. Amery, Dominions Secretary to T.M. Healy, Governor General, April 14, 1927.
185. TNA Treasury F4447/4, Liddell to Phillips, February 14, 1928; note by Winston Churchill, April 6, 1928.
186. TNA Treasury F4447/4, Draft Clause – Power to prohibit the importation of certain coins, n.d.
187. TNA Treasury F4447/4, note attached to E. Hale to C.W. Hardisty, May 14, 1928.
188. The amended version of the draft provision read:
The power conferred by section two of the Customs Amendment Act 1886, of prohibiting by proclamation the importation of such coins as are mentioned in that section shall extend to the importation into the United Kingdom of coins current in any country out of the United Kingdom and the importation into the United Kingdom from any such country of silver coins of the realm, and the said section two shall have effect accordingly. (TNA Treasury F4447/4, draft attached to C.W. Hardisty to E. Hale, May 17, 1928)
189. TNA Treasury F4447/4, silver and currency in the Irish Free State, May 23, 1928.
190. Barnes and Nicholson, Leo Amery Diaries, 581-2.
191. British Parliamentary Papers, Cmd. 4184, papers relating to a conference between representatives of the United Kingdom and of the Irish Free State, October 14–15, 1932.
192. TNA Treasury F4447/5, W.B. Spender, Ministry of Finance, Northern Ireland to S.D. Waley, Treasury, April 9, 1932.
193. TNA Treasury F4447/5, memorandum on withdrawal of United Kingdom from the Irish Free State, June 9, 1932.
194. Hansard, House of Commons, vol. 267, col. 679, June 17, 1932.
195. Only £60,000 of British silver coin was sent to the United Kingdom between April 1940 and March 1944. The return of coinage in the quantities agreed in 1938 was only resumed in 1944 when the war was almost concluded. Moynihan, Currency and Central Banking in Ireland, 132.
196. Dáil Debates, vol. 14, col. 165, January 27, 1926 and col. 441, February 4, 1926.
197. Section 3, Government of Ireland Bill, 1886; Section 3, Government of Ireland Bill, 1893; Section 2, Government of Ireland Act 1914; Section 4, Government of Ireland Act 1920.
198. Swift MacNeill, “Thoughts on the Constitution of the Irish Free State,” 52; Swift MacNeill, Studies in the Constitution of the Irish Free State, 9–10.
199. This change appeared on Irish coins issued from 1939 onwards. Coinage (Dimensions and Designs) Order, 1938 (S.I. No. 78/1938).
200. NAI DT S3875, “Memorandum on Token Coinage,” Department of Finance, n.d. 1924.
201. TNA-PRO CAB 24/180 C.P. 230 (26), “Lane Picture Bequest – Note by Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs,” June 8, 1926. Similar charges of discrimination were made with respect to appeals from the Irish courts to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. See, for example, Dáil Debates, vol. 14, cols. 133–4, January 27, 1926; Seanad Debates, vol. 6, col. 413, February 24, 1926. See also Hughes, National Sovereignty, 82.
202. [1928] I.R. 512. See Mohr, “British Imperial Statutes and Irish Law,” 310–11.
203. NAI DT S6244A.
204. Ibid.