1940 Irish Threepence

The 1940 Irish threepence was one of the last coins struck in silver by the Irish Free State before wartime shortages forced a switch to base metals.

Weighing just over a gram and measuring 21 millimeters across, it features a harp on the obverse and a simple crowned harp with the denomination on the reverse. The silver content, at 75% purity, made it practical for circulation but prone to wear in everyday pockets. Records from that era are spotty; we know production occurred at the Royal Mint in London, as Ireland lacked its own facility, but exact figures vanished in bureaucratic fog.

Its design echoes earlier British patterns, a hangover from colonial ties that persisted into the 1940s. If you're handling one, note the edge is plain, not reeded, which meant it was easy to clip for the silver—though few bothered with such a modest coin.