The Official Blister 2011 is the second in a 3 year series featuring animals of Irish coinage, and depicts the Salmon from the florin (two shillings). The florin coin was a pre-decimal coin and worth 1/10 of an Irish pound. The coin featured the salmon and the original minting of the coin from 1928 until 1943 contained 75% silver, a higher content than the equivalent British coin. The hound will be featured on the 2012 sets respectively.
The Irish euro coins share the same design by Jarlath Hayes, that of the harp, a traditional symbol for Ireland since the Middle Ages, based on that of the Brian Boru harp, housed in Trinity College, Dublin. The same harp is used as the official seals of the Taoiseach, and government ministers and the Official Seal of the President of Ireland. The coins' design also features the 12 stars of the EU, the year of imprint and the Irish name for Ireland, "EIRE", in the traditional Gaelic script. |