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.
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.