Irish Free State Coinage Design – ¹⁄₂ Leath Phinginn

Paul Manship, Irish Free State Coinage Design--1/2 Leath Phinginn, 1927, bronze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1965.16.73

Paul Manship, Irish Free State Coinage Design--1/2 Leath Phinginn, 1927, bronze, 4 ¹⁄₂ in. (11.4 cm) diam., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1965.16.73

Artwork Details

Title: Irish Free State Coinage Design – ¹⁄₂ Leath Phinginn
Artist: Paul Manship
Date: 1927
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 4 ¹⁄₂ in. (11.4 cm) diam.
Credit Line: Gift of the artist
Mediums: bronze
Mediums Description: bronze
Classifications: Sculpture
Medal-Sample
Subjects: Animal — sheep
Object — other — money
Object Number: 1965.16.73
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1965.16.73

Artwork Description

In 1926, Paul Manship was selected to participate in an international competition to design the coinage of the Irish Free State. Dublin-born poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) had proposed a general motif of animals associated with Irish life, including a hen, ram, salmon, hare, wolfhound, wood duck, harp, and bull’s head. Manship lost the competition to English sculptor Percy Metcalfe, but graciously acknowledged that, had he been on the jury, he would have made the same decision. Manship’s design here is for the leath phinginn, the Irish halfpenny.