5 Pence small type

The small 5p was introduced in 1992 as part of a coordinated reduction in coin sizes across the Irish decimal series, driven by complaints from vending machine operators and the public alike about the bulk of the original 1969 coinage. The old large 5p — essentially identical in size to a shilling, whose dimensions it had inherited at decimalisation — was demonetised in January 1993, giving this smaller type a deliberately short overlap period in circulation.

The series ran until Irish pound coinage was effectively rendered obsolete by euro changeover preparations in 2000.