Ireland, 1996 Pattern 25 Euros in gilding metal. BU

From 1990 until 2001 the Royal Mint included in all its 3-4 coin gold sets a gold plated medal showing one of the signs of the Chinese zodiac. 1994 was the year of the dog and that's what we offer here. Remember to get one of these gold plated medallions, you had to buy a 3-4 piece Gold Proof Set.

From 1990 until 2001 the Royal Mint included in all its 3-4 coin gold sets a gold plated medal showing one of the signs of the Chinese zodiac. 1996 was the year of the rat and that's what we offer here. Remember to get one of these gold plated medallions, you had to buy a 3- 4 piece Gold Proof Set.

In 1992 everyone thought that the new European currency was going to be called the Ecu. So International Numismatic Agency (INA) made a private pattern Ecu to show what a Northern Ireland issue might look like, if it were ever issued, in other words a Patina. It is crownsized and struck in Prooflike cupro-nickel. On one side a woman playing the harp along with the denomination ‘Twenty-Five Ecu’ and the date 1992. The other side has a globe showing Europe with Neptune and Britannia on either side of the globe. The legend reads ‘Europe * Europa and N. Ireland’. These are now 27 years old and it has been quite sometime since we last offered them for sale. Just found a small group in one of vault rooms. If you collect Irish coins, Euro or Ecu coins, then this is the piece for you…