Currency Act 1927

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Currency Act, 1927.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Finance;

the expression “the Commission” means the Currency Commission to be established under this Act;

the expression “British Government securities” means and includes any stocks, shares, bonds, bills, notes, or other interestbearing securities heretofore or hereafter issued or made by or on behalf of the British Government and carrying the direct obligation of the British Government in respect of both capital or principal and interest;

the expression “securities guaranteed by the British Government” means and includes any stocks, shares, bonds or debentures for the time being carrying the guarantee of the British Government in respect of both capital and interest;

the word “outstanding” when used in relation to legal tender notes means notes which have been issued by the Commission and have not since the last time of issue been redeemed or accepted by the Commission in exchange on the issue of other legal tender notes or called in and paid for and when used in relation to consolidated bank notes means notes which have been issued by the Commission and have not been returned to the Commission for retirement;

the word “issue” when used in relation to legal tender notes or in relation to consolidated bank notes includes the re-issue of a note which has ceased to be outstanding;

the word “director” when used in relation to a Shareholding Bank includes a member of the Board of management of such Bank;

the expression “gold bullion” includes any gold coins other than gold coins which are for the time being legal tender in Saorstát Eireann or in Great Britain;

the expression “standard fineness” means a fineness of eleven-twelfths fine gold and one-twelfth alloy, or a millesimal fineness of 916.6;

the word “ounce” means an ounce troy;

the expression “the expenses of the Commission” includes all expenses incurred by the Commission in the performance of the duties and the exercise of the powers imposed or conferred on it by this Act or incurred in anywise in the performance of its functions under this Act and in particular includes the remuneration and allowances payable under this Act to the Chairman and the ordinary Commissioners;

the expression “unanimous vote” when used in relation to the Commission means the unanimous vote of all persons who are at the time being members of the Commission other than members who are prohibited by this Act from taking part in the vote;

the word “year” means a period of twelve months ending on the 31st day of March;

the expression “half-year” means a period of six months ending on the 31st day of March or the 30th day of September;

the expression “consolidated bank note” means a consolidated bank note provided and issued under and in accordance with this Act;

the expression “legal tender note” means a legal tender note provided and issued under and in accordance with this Act, and

the expressions “legal tender note fund,” “note reserve fund,” and “general fund” respectively mean the several funds required by this Act to be kept by the Commission under those respective names.

3 Repeals.

3.—(1) The several enactments specified in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent mentioned in the third column of the said Schedule and as on and from the respective dates specified in the fourth column of the said Schedule.

(2) So much of section 4 of the Bankers (Ireland) Act, 1845 as enacts that the Bank of Ireland shall be dissolved upon publication of the notice mentioned in that section and that the Bank of Ireland shall be dissolved upon repayment of the sum mentioned in that section is hereby repealed.

4 Standard of value.

4.—(1) The standard unit of value of Saorstát Eireann shall be the Saorstát pound which shall be issued as hereinafter provided either in the form of a gold coin having a standard weight of 123.27447 grains of gold eleven-twelfths fine or in the form of a legal tender note or in both forms.

(2) Every mention or reference in the Coinage Act, 1926 (No. 14 of 1926) of or to the sovereign shall be construed as a mention of or reference to the Saorstát pound and the said Act shall have effect accordingly.

PART II. Gold Coinage.

5 Coining of gold from bullion on request.

5.—(1) Whenever any person after the commencement of this section delivers not less at any one time than one hundred ounces of gold bullion at a place for the time being appointed in that behalf by the Minister under this section, the Minister shall cause such bullion to be assayed and coined into coins authorised by this Act to be issued thereunder and shall issue such coins to such person.

(2) Whenever the gold bullion delivered for coinage under this section is of the standard fineness the number of coins to be issued under this section in exchange for such bullion shall be calculated at the rate of one Saorstát pound for every 123.27447 grains of such bullion or one ten-shilling coin for every 61.63723 grains of such bullion and whenever such bullion is of a fineness superior or inferior to the standard fineness the said number of coins shall be calculated at such higher or lower (as the case may be) rate as is proportionate to such superiority or inferiority of fineness.

(3) The Minister may refuse to accept for coining under this section any gold bullion which is of such fineness that in the opinion of the Minister it cannot be brought to the standard fineness without refining some portion of it, and if he so accepts any such bullion he may impose such charge as he thinks proper for refining it.

(4) It shall be lawful for the Minister to impose such charge for the coinage of gold bullion under this section as he thinks proper not exceeding three half-pence for every ounce of such bullion of the standard fineness and so in proportion for bullion of a superior or an inferior fineness.

(5) No undue preference shall be shown to any person under this section and every person delivering in accordance with this section gold bullion for coining shall have the bullion so delivered by him coined in such priority as corresponds to the time of such delivery.

(6) The Minister may by order appoint such places as he thinks fit for the delivery under this section of gold bullion for coining and in the event of his so appointing an office of the Commission as a place for such delivery he may by the same or any subsequent order with the consent of the Commission authorise and require the Commission to exercise and perform in respect of all gold bullion delivered at such office such of the powers and duties conferred on the Minister by the foregoing provisions of this section as he thinks proper.

Every order made by the Minister under this sub-section shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after it is made.

(7) This section shall come into operation on such day as shall be appointed in that behalf by the Minister with the concurrence of the Commission by notice published in the Iris Oifigiúil.

(8) The notice under the foregoing sub-section appointing the day for the coming into operation of this section, shall, if the Commission so requires, declare that no person other than the Commission shall be entitled to deliver gold bullion for coining under this section, and if such notice so declares then no person other than the Commission shall be entitled to deliver gold bullion for coining under this section until such time as the Commission shall by notice published in the Iris Oifigiúil declare that every person shall be so entitled.

6 Denominations and other particulars of gold coins.

6.—(1) Every coin issued under this Act shall be of one or other of the denominations specified in the first column of the Second Schedule to this Act, and every such coin shall be of the standard weight and the standard fineness specified in respect thereof in the second and fourth columns respectively of the said Second Schedule, but there shall be allowed in respect of all such coins the remedy (or variation from the standard weight or the standard fineness) stated in respect thereof respectively in the fifth column of the said Second Schedule.

(2) The Minister may by order prescribe the dimensions and design of the several denominations of coins issued under this Act and every coin so issued shall be of the dimensions and design so prescribed in respect thereof.

(3) The Minister may by order prescribe the manner in which coins coined under this Act are to be tested for the purpose of ascertaining whether they do or do not comply with the provisions of this Act.

7 Calling in of coins issued under this Act.

7.—The Minister may by order call in coins of any particular date or denomination issued under this Act.

8 Prohibition of other gold coins or tokens.

8.—(1) Save and except coins issued under and in accordance with this Act, no piece of gold or of any mined metal (whereof gold forms a part) of any value whatsoever shall be made or issued in Saorstát Eireann as a coin or token for money or as purporting that the holder thereof is entitled to demand any value denoted thereon.

(2) Every person who shall make or issue any piece of gold or of mined metal (whereof gold forms a part) in contravention of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable on conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

9 Legal tender in gold coins.

9.—A tender of payment of money if made in gold coins issued under this Act which have not been called in under this Act and have not become diminished in weight by wear or otherwise, so as to be of less weight than the weight specified in respect thereof in the third column of the Second Schedule to this Act, shall be legal tender for a payment of any amount.

10 Currency in which contracts, etc., are to be made.

10.—Every contract, sale, payment, bill, note, instrument, and security for money, and every transaction, dealing, matter, and thing whatever relating to money or involving the payment or the liability to pay any money which is made, executed, entered into, done, or had on or after the day appointed under this Act for the commencement of the issue of legal tender notes shall be made, executed, entered into, done and had according to coins or notes which are for the time being legal tender under the Coinage Act, 1926 (No. 14 of 1926) or this Act and not otherwise, unless the same be made, executed, entered into, done or had according to the currency of some state or country other than Saorstát Eireann.

11 Application of certain enactments.

11.—(1) The Coinage Offences Act, 1861 shall apply to coins issued under this Act, and for the purpose of such application the references in section 1 of that Act to gold coin coined in any of Her Majesty's Mints or lawfully current by virtue of any proclamation or otherwise in any part of Her Majesty's Dominions shall be construed as including references to coins lawfully current in Saorstát Eireann by virtue of this Act.

(2) Section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876 shall be construed and have effect as if the following articles were added to the Table of Prohibitions and Restrictions Inwards in that section, that is to say, counterfeits of coins issued under this Act.

(3) Section 2 of the Revenue Act, 1889 shall apply to imitations of coins issued under this Act, and for the purpose of such application the references in sub-section (4) of that section to coins lawfully current by virtue of any proclamation or otherwise in any part of Her Majesty's Dominions shall be construed as including a reference to coins lawfully current in Saorstát Eireann by virtue of this Act.

12 Defacing light gold coin.

12.—(1) Where any coin issued under this Act is below the least current weight specified in respect thereof in the third column of the Second Schedule to this Act, or where any coin issued under this Act is called in under this Act, every person shall by himself or another cut, break, or deface any such coin tendered to him in payment and the person tendering the same shall bear the loss.

(2) If any coin cut, broken or defaced in pursuance of this section is not below the least current weight specified in respect thereof in the third column of the Second Schedule to this Act or has not been called in under this Act, the person cutting, breaking, or defacing the same shall receive the same in payment according to its denomination.

(3) Any dispute arising under this section may be determined by a Justice of the District Court in accordance with Rules of Court.

13 Expenses of issue of coins.

13.—All expenses incurred by the Minister in carrying this Part of this Act into effect shall be paid out of the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof.

PART III. The Currency Commission.

14 Constitution of the Currency Commission.

14.—(1) There shall be established in accordance with this Act a body to be called the Currency Commission to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Commission shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and an official seal (which shall be judicially noticed) and power to sue and be sued in its corporate name and to hold and dispose of land.

(3) The Commission shall consist of seven members to be called the Currency Commissioners (in this Act referred to as the Commissioners) namely a Chairman (in this Act referred to as the Chairman) and six ordinary Commissioners (in this Act referred to as the ordinary Commissioners) elected or nominated in the manner hereinafter mentioned.

(4) There shall be associated with the Commission in accordance with this Act such and so many Shareholding Banks as is provided by this Act and such Shareholding Banks shall have such rights, privileges, and obligations as are conferred or imposed on them by this Act but references in this Act to the Commission or to members of the Commission shall not be construed as including Shareholding Banks.

15 The Chairman of the Commission.

15.—(1) The Chairman shall receive such remuneration and allowances and be subject to such conditions of service as the ordinary Commissioners shall prescribe.

(2) The term of office of the Chairman (not including a person appointed to be the Chairman temporarily) shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, is removed, or becomes disqualified, be a period of five years commencing, in the case of the first Chairman, on the establishment of the Commission and, in the case of every subsequent Chairman, on the date of his election or nomination or, in the case of a Chairman elected or nominated or re-elected or re-nominated during the continuance of a term of office, on the expiration of such term of office.

(3) A Chairman retiring on the expiration by effluxion of time of his term of office shall be eligible for re-election or re-nomination.

(4) The Chairman shall during his term of office be disqualified from being nominated or elected and from sitting or receiving payment as a member of Dáil Eireann or of Seanad Eireann and be ineligible for election as a director of any Bank whatsoever.

(5) The Chairman shall, if at the time of his election or nomination he is a director of any Bank whatsoever, divest himself of such directorship within ten days after his election or nomination, and if he fails so to do he shall at the expiration of such ten days be disqualified from holding the office of Chairman.

16 Removal and disqualification of the Chairman.

16.—(1) If the Chairman becomes by ill-health permanently incapacitated for performing his duties as Chairman, the ordinary Commissioners may by unanimous vote remove him from office.

(2) The ordinary Commissioners may at any time by unanimous vote remove the Chairman from office for cause stated and after giving him a reasonable opportunity of being heard.

(3) If and whenever the Chairman is adjudged bankrupt or makes a composition or arrangement with his creditors or is sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction to suffer imprisonment or penal servitude, he shall be disqualified from holding the office of Chairman.

(4) The powers conferred by this section on the ordinary Commissioners shall not be exercisable while there is a vacancy in their number.

17 Prohibition of Chairman holding shares in a bank.

17.—(1) Every person elected or nominated to be the Chairman shall within three months after his election or nomination absolutely sell or otherwise dispose of all shares in any Bank which he shall at the time of his election or nomination own or be interested in for his own benefit.

(2) If and whenever any shares in a Bank shall come to or vest in the Chairman by will or succession for his own benefit, he shall within three months after the same shall have so come to or vested in him, absolutely sell and dispose of the same or his interest therein.

(3) The Chairman shall not purchase, take, or become interested in for his own benefit any shares in any Bank.

(4) If the Chairman shall retain, purchase, take, or become or remain interested in any shares in any Bank in contravention of this section he shall be disqualified from holding the office of Chairman.

(5) In this section the word “bank” means a bank carrying on business in Saorstát Eireann or holding to the knowledge of the Chairman a controlling interest in a bank carrying on business in Saorstát Eireann, and references to shares in a bank shall be construed as including stock, shares, debentures, debenture stock, bonds, or other securities of such bank.

(6) This section shall not apply to a person appointed to be the Chairman temporarily pending the election or nomination of a person to be the Chairman.

18 The ordinary Commissioners.

18.—(1) Of the ordinary Commissioners, three (in this Act referred to as elected Commissioners) shall be elected in accordance with this Act by representatives of the Shareholding Banks and three (in this Act referred to as nominated Commissioners) shall be nominated in accordance with this Act by the Minister.

(2) Two of the nominated Commissioners shall be persons who are representative of or experienced in business, industry, or trade and are not in the permanent service of the State, and the other nominated Commissioner may, at the discretion of the Minister be a person who is in or a person who is not in the permanent service of the State and shall, if but only if the Minister when nominating him so directs, hold office at the pleasure of the Minister.

(3) Every ordinary Commissioner shall receive such remuneration and allowances and be subject to such conditions of service as the Minister shall from time to time determine having regard to the prevailing standards of the Shareholding Banks in fixing the remuneration, allowances, and conditions of service of their directors.