The Currency System of the Irish Free State

Abstract

The Coinage Act, 1926 and the Currency Act, 1927 dissolve the currency union of Great Britain and the Irish Free State, 264. — The Free State pound, its new unit of value, made equal in weight and fineness to the pound sterling, 266. — A Currency Commission, created for the management of the currency, 267. — The circulating media are to be: (1) A token coinage preserving the British denominations, 264; (2) Consolidated bank-notes, with a maximum issue of (£6,000,000 for the present) 268; (3) Legal tender notes, to be issued by the Commission to purchasers who tender an equal nominal amount of British currency or London funds, 272. — The system is that of a gold exchange standard, with no alteration in control of banking and credit, 275.