The Irish shilling coin featured the bull and the original minting of the coin from 1928 until 1942 contained 75% silver, a higher content than the equivalent British coin. It is believed that this was done so that the new currency would not be seen as a poor substitute to the British currency which circulated alongside. The silver coins are quite noticeable as they have a more "whitish" look than the later cupronickel variety that were minted from 1951, also the silver coins wear less well. The cupronickel variety of coin consisted of 75% copper and 25% nickel.
The coin design, by Percy Metcalf, was a diameter of 0.935 inches and weight of 87.27272 grams. The last shillings were produced in 1968. When the currency was decimalised this coin continued to circulate alongside its replacement five pence, and the shilling was finally withdrawn from January 1 1993 as a smaller five pence coin was introduced.
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