Images(3)

Halfpenny

Object number2017.116.26

Date1942

OriginIreland

MediumBronze

Credit LineIn memory of Edward Ruglovsky

DescriptionIrish half penny coin or half Pingin (1/2 penny or 1/2 Pingin). Circular bronze coin. Front has Irish harp flanked by Gaelic text and date. Reverse has sow with piglets with value above and Gaelic text below; designer initials just below 3:00. Smooth edge.DimensionsDiameter x Depth: 1 x 0.063 in. (2.5 x 0.2 cm)
SignedReverse has initials just below 3:00 "PM".
InscriptionsFront has text at viewer's left edge "éIRe" and viewer's right edge "1942".

Reverse has text at top "1/2d" and Gaelic text at bottom "leat / pingin".
Historical NotesPart of a collection of items documenting Edward Ruglovsky’s WWII service in the 10th Infantry Regiment and his industrial career at U. S. Steel. Ed Ruglovksy was with 10th as a combat infantryman from January 1944 through the war’s end, and through the campaigns to take Western Europe – Rhineland, Ardennes, Battle of the Bulge, etc. Ruglovsky said it was “the worst place to be” and that he spent a “year being absolutely terrified.” Some of these things he acquired by trading Russian soldiers for them at the end of the war, which fits with the reality that combat infantryman – while in active combat – were not able to collect and save much, so acquiring items from another soldier at war’s end fits with Ruglovsky’s history of service.

Previous owner Edward Ruglovsky

Related institution United States Steel Corporation

Related institution 10th Infantry Regiment

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