ObverseImage: Wikimedia Commons · CNG · CC BY-SA 3.0
Mary I Irish Groat
Ireland
1553–1558
Reference data compiled from public catalogs
Estimated Melt Value
$4.57
Based on Silver spot price ($80.83/oz) · 92.5% purity · 1.9g
Updated 7:02 AM
Collector premium not included
Specifications
| Country | Ireland |
| Years Minted | 1553–1558 |
| Composition | 92.5% silver |
| Weight | 1.9 g |
| Diameter | 22 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
Design
Obverse
Crowned bust of Mary I facing left, with the legend MARIA D G ANG FRA ET HIB REGINA.
Reverse
Square shield on a cross fourchée, surrounded by a legend such as VERITAS TEMPORIS FILIA.
History & Notable Facts
The Mary I Irish groat features a crowned bust on its obverse, a design choice that echoes her father's coins but adapts to Ireland's lesser minting capacity. Struck at the Tower Mint in London, these silver pieces were shipped across the Irish Sea, often arriving battered from the journey.
Weighing around 1.8 grams, the coin's harp on the reverse served as a rare nod to Irish identity under English rule, though it carried Latin inscriptions asserting Mary's broader sovereignty. Mintage figures remain uncertain, lost perhaps in the archives of time or the 1922 Irish Civil War fires.
Such coins turn up in hoards, hinting at their role in daily transactions during a queen's short, troubled reign. If you handle one, note the irregular edges; early modern minting wasn't exactly precise.
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