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At the time the Irish Free State was proclaimed in 1922, three types of banknotes circulated in Ireland: British Treasury notes, Bank of England notes, and notes issued by Irish banks, but only the Treasury notes were legal tender. Section 14 of the Currency Act (1927) mandated the use of a new currency, the Free State (Saorstát) pound. The same act also created the Currency Commission (COM), whose brief was to control and manage the Saorstát pound, and which was granted the power to issue legal tender banknotes. The Saorstát pound was pegged at par with British pound sterling, a parity which would be maintained until 1979. Although the British pound sterling was generally accepted in the Republic of Ireland, the Saorstát pound was only accepted in Northern Ireland.