1 Pound Millennium

Ireland struck this pound specifically to mark the millennium changeover, but the timing carried an irony the mint couldn't have anticipated: the coin entered circulation just as the country was accelerating its psychological shift away from the punt entirely. The euro transition had been locked in since 1999, meaning this commemorative issue had a functional lifespan of roughly two years before Irish pound coinage became obsolete on 9 February 2002.

The Spink reference Sp#6701A distinguishes it from the standard circulation pound of the same period — a small but catalogically meaningful separation.