1 Pound Millennium Punt, Silver Pattern Strike

The Central Bank of Ireland issued this pattern to evaluate a potential silver circulation coinage for the millennium year, but Ireland's impending entry into the eurozone — the euro launched in accounting form on 1 January 1999 — made any new punt coinage a short-lived proposition at best. No commemorative punt series moved forward, and the Irish pound was permanently replaced by the euro in physical circulation on 1 January 2002.

Pattern strikes of this type were produced in extremely limited numbers for official review and specimen sets, never entering general distribution.