One of Ireland’s rarest coins could be worth more than €15,000, and residents are being urged to check their holiday change.
This was revealed by coin collector Brendan Jones. The rare 20-cent coin, issued in the 1980s, has fallen out of use. But the people of Ireland may still have it somewhere.
“If you’ve ever seen one of these coins, it could be worth up to 15,000 euros. In the early 1980s, the government announced that it would issue a new coin that would be either 20 cents or 25 cents,” the author reported.
Ireland officially switched to the euro in 2002 after a three-year trial period. Before that, the national currency was the Irish pound (pound). The country’s government decided to issue the first 20-cent coin in 1986, but about 500 early versions of the coins were distributed to businesses to recalibrate their machines so that the new coins could be used. The author of the publication added that in 1985, the Central Bank distributed 500 such coins to businesses for phone booths. Only a few of the coins were dated 1985. These were to be returned, but it is estimated that around 50 such coins still remained in stock.
