Barnyard-Half-Crown The Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland will issue a very special silver coin honoring their well known and much loved �Barnyard� series of circulating coins designed by Percy Metcalfe and first issued in 1928. This will be the first time Percy Metcalfe's artwork will be presented in the Euro currency.

As a tribute to the first coins of the Irish state, the Central Bank has chosen to expand these designs and give them more relevancy within the EURO by updating them within a �New Generation.�

Percy Metcalfe's original designs are replicated and have been re-tooled and sharpened slightly for more vivid detail. The difference is with the addition of the animal's offspring. The original coins show the animals in profile with quite basic anatomical depictions. This is still the case with the �Horse� coin for example, but now, we will see a foal casually looking towards us in a more relaxed pose.

The first coin in the series will see the issue of the redesign of the Horse, with the Salmon and smolt in 2011 and the Irish Wolfhound with pup following in 2012.

To read the complete article, see:Central Bank of Ireland to Issue �Barnyard� Euro Coin Series(news.coinupdate.com/central-bank-of-ireland
-to-issue-barnyard-euro-coin-series-0426/)