Ireland
| Ireland Éire | ||
|---|---|---|
Ireland joined the eurozone in 2002, however they did not mint any collectors' coins until 2003. Ireland has kept its issues to the very minimum with one or two coins per year. The record was reached in 2008, when four coins where issued.
The vast majority of the Irish coins are made of silver, only since 2006 Irish euro collectors' coins have been seen in gold. In 2003, a very special coin was issued, the only one with a face value of €5 minted so far, and the only one made of two colors (not to be confused with bimetal coins), using alloys of other materials. This coins was issued commemorating the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games hosted in Ireland; it was the biggest mint ever with 60,000 coins released.
In general, Ireland mint coins with very low face value, but because of the rarity of their gold coins, they are quoted in the market at very high values.
Read more about this topic: Euro Gold And Silver Commemorative Coins
Famous quotes containing the word ireland:
“No people can more exactly interpret the inmost meaning of the present situation in Ireland than the American Negro. The scheme is simple. You knock a man down and then have him arrested for assault. You kill a man and then hang the corpse.”
—W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt)
“In Ireland they try to make a cat cleanly by rubbing its nose in its own filth. Mr. Joyce has tried the same treatment on the human subject. I hope it may prove successful.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“Come, fix upon me that accusing eye.
I thirst for accusation. All that was sung.
All that was said in Ireland is a lie
Breed out of the contagion of the throng,
Saving the rhyme rats hear before they die.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)