1722 1/2P Hibernia

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,540 F12 11-01-1988 Bowers & Merena

Description

This 1722 Wood's Hibernia Halfpenny is a standard type from the first year of production under William Wood's royal patent for Irish coinage. The obverse features the laureate bust of George I facing right with the royal legend, while the reverse displays the seated figure of Hibernia, the female personification of Ireland, holding a harp with the legend HIBERNIA and the date 1722. Wood's Hibernia coins were authorized by George I through a patent that allowed Wood to produce copper coins for Ireland, much as the Rosa Americana patent authorized coinage for the American colonies. The coins were produced at Wood's works in Bristol, England, and shipped to Ireland for distribution. However, the Irish public and Parliament fiercely resisted the coins, viewing them as an unwelcome imposition that would drain silver and gold from the Irish economy by flooding it with base copper tokens of questionable value. Jonathan Swift's devastating "Drapier's Letters" of 1724 galvanized public opposition to such an extent that Wood was eventually compelled to surrender his patent. Many of the already-produced Hibernia coins were subsequently shipped to the American colonies, where they circulated alongside Rosa Americana coins, British coppers, and other small-denomination pieces. The 1722 Halfpenny thus bridges Irish and American colonial numismatic history, beginning as a controversial Irish coinage and ending its commercial life in American colonial pockets.

Rarity Notes

Scarce but obtainable. As one of the standard 1722 types, it is among the more available Wood's Hibernia coins.

Cross References

PCGS #45378; Wood's Patent coinage; Jonathan Swift's Drapier's Letters 1724; cf. Rosa Americana series