i found this in my change couple of days ago and thought some people might be interested in seeing it. for those who dont know RIRA stands for Real Irish Repulican Army. they are resporsible for many deaths in northen ireland in recent years. its an intersting (if not slightly macarbe) piece of british history.
Real Irish Republican Army.... These are the same guys that placed a bomb on a boat and blew up Lord Louis Mountbatten, right?....and ambushed all those British troops?...and killed all those Garda policemen? Never heard of 'em..... (but still a very cool coin).
ive never seen one before and cant find any others. still not sure if im gunna keep it or just spend it though
The RIRA is an offshoot of the IRA also called the Provisional IRA or PIRA. They split sometime around 1997 or 1998, so these counterstamps are fairly recent. There are quite a few Northern Ireland political counterstamps known including ones issued by the IRA, Sinn Fein, UDA (Ulster Defense Association), and dozens of other groups and movements all related to the conflict. It's a very sad situation that has been going on for decades. The counterstamps however are interesting in their own way. Most of them are probably scarce, but not likely valuable. I don't recall ever seeing one for sale or at auction. Bruce
