• Description of Banknotes
• Depiction of Banknotes
• Description of euro coinage
• Depiction of euro coinage
• Irish Pound

The euro is the official currency of the European Union and single currency for over 300 million Europeans in the following twelve European Union member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain; collectively also known as the eurozone.

The euro was introduced to world financial markets in 1999 and launched as a currency in 2002. All EU member states are eligible to join if they comply to certain monetary requirements.

The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) (composed of the central banks of its member states). As an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The ESCB participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all member states, and the operation of the eurozone payment systems.

The euro is divided into 100 cents. In each country but Greece, which uses the Greek words for "cents" on its coins, the form "cent" is officially required to be used in legislation in both the singular and in the plural, though in common usage and in official material aimed at the general public, it is common to translate these into the local language, for example cents in English and centesimo-centesimi in Italian.

All euro coins (including the €2 commemorative coins) have a common side showing the denomination (value) and a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued the coin ; the monarchies often have a picture of their reigning monarch, Ireland uses its national symbol, the harp. All coins can be used in all member states: for example, a euro coin bearing the image of the Spanish King is legal tender not only in Spain, but also in all other member states where the euro is in use. There are €2, €1, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c and 1c coins, though the latter two are not generally used in Finland or the Netherlands (but are still legal tender).

All euro banknotes have a common design for each denomination on both sides. Notes are issued in the following values: €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, €5. Some of the higher denominations are not issued in a few countries, though again, are legal tender.

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Depiction of Banknotes

Front		Back
	€ 5
	€ 10
	€ 20
	€ 50
	€ 100
	€ 200
	€ 500

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Depiction of euro coinage - reverse side / common side

€0.01	€0.02	€0.05
€0.10	€0.20	€0.50
€1.00	€2.00	The edge on Irish €2 coins has the sequence repeated three times.

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The Irish pound (in Irish punt) was the currency of the Republic of Ireland until 1999. The Irish pound's notation was the prefix £, or IR£ where confusion might have arisen with the pound sterling. The Irish pound was superseded by the euro on 1 January 1999, when the Irish pound legally became a subdivision of the euro. A distinct Irish pound existed until January 1826 when it ceased to exist as a currency. Like the pound sterling, the Irish pound was divided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. However, it was not equivalent to sterling, with 13 Irish pounds equal to 12 pounds sterling. This led to a situation where Irish copper coins circulated with British silver coins, since 13 Irish pence = 1 British shilling. The only 19th century exceptions were silver tokens denominated in Irish pence issued by the Bank of Ireland between 1804 and 1813. The last Irish copper pennies and halfpennies were minted in 1823 and after the abolition of the Irish pound British currency circulated in Ireland.

The harp, Irish national symbol, has long been associated with the punt.

Following the establishment of the Irish Free State, a new currency was introduced in 1928. This new Irish pound was originally called the Saorstát pound ("Free State pound") and was pegged to the pound sterling and used the pounds, shillings and pence system. The currency became a reality by the introduction of coins and notes. However, the pound sterling continued to be accepted on a one-for-one basis. The currency was referred to as the Irish pound from 1938 after the Constitution of Ireland changed the state's name. The Currency Act, 1927, Adaptation Order, 1938 was the actual mechanism by which change took place.

Irish Banknotes

When the Irish Free State came into existence in 1922, three categories of banknote were in circulation. These consisted of notes issued by the Bank of England, the British Treasury, and six Irish banks then in existence who were chartered to issue notes. Only British Treasury notes had legal tender status within the state. The issuing of banknotes by multiple private institutions was an everyday aspect of banking in the British Isles at the time and indeed remains so in Northern Ireland today. Before the advent of the euro three series of notes were issued which held legal tender status; these are generally referred to as "Series A", "Series B" and "Series C" respectively. A series of notes, the "Consolidated Banknotes" were issued but were never legal tender.

Medb, the legendary Queen of Connacht, whose infidelity and violence were also legendary, was chosen for the Irish pound banknote for "Series B" introduced in 1976 and withdrawn in 1993.

irish Coinage

The first coins were struck in, and dated 1928 and were minted at the Royal Mint in London. In 1938 following the introduction of the Constitution of Ireland the obverse of the coins was modified with the Irish language name of the State, "Éire," and the harp was also modified so that it wore better. The Central Bank Act, 1942 Section 58 allowed pure nickel to be substituted with a cupro-nickel alloy. The designation of the state as the "Republic of Ireland" did not have any effect on the name on coins issued after 1948. The Coinage Act, 1950 changed the law on coinage principally with the removal of silver from coins then in existence. The final piece of primary legislation for predecimal coins was the Coinage (Amendment) Act, 1966 which allowed for a ten shilling coin to be minted and circulated.

Decimal Coins

English name	Irish name	Numeral	Introduction	Withdrawal	£1 Fraction
Halfpenny	Leathphingin	½p	15 February 1971	1 January 1987	1/200
Penny	Pingin	1p	15 February 1971	10 February 2002	1/100
Two Pence	Dhá Phingin	2p	15 February 1971	10 February 2002	1/50
Five Pence	Cúig Phingin	5p	8 September 1969	10 February 2002	1/20
Ten Pence	Deich bPingin	10p	8 September 1969	10 February 2002	1/10
Twenty Pence	Fiche Pingin	20p	30 October 1986	10 February 2002	1/5
Fifty Pence	Caoga Pingin	50p	17 February 1970	10 February 2002	1/2
One Pound	Punt	£1	20 June 1990	10 February 2002	1