Irish euro coins all share the same design by Jarlath Hayes, that of the

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

, a traditional symbol for Ireland since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, based on that of the Brian Boru harp, housed in

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. The same harp is used as on the official seals of the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

, and government ministers and the

Seal of the President of Ireland The presidential seal ( ga, séala an uachtaráin) is a Seal (impression), seal used by the President of Ireland to authenticate his signature on official documents. The Constitution of Ireland requires certain documents to be issued under the pr ...

. The coins' design also features the 12 stars of the EU, the year of issue and the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

name for Ireland, "

Éire () is Irish for "Ireland", the name of both an island in the North Atlantic and the sovereign state of the Republic of Ireland which governs 84% of the island's landmass. The latter is distinct from Northern Ireland, which covers the remainde ...

", in a traditional Gaelic script.

Irish euro design

All Irish euro coins bear the same design on their obverse side: a

Celtic harp The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton and in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring grea ...

based on the

Trinity College Harp The Trinity College harp, also known as "Brian Boru's harp", is a medieval musical instrument on display in the long room at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. It is an early Irish harp or wire-strung cláirseach. It is dated to the 14th or 15th ...

, flanked to the left and right by the word "

ÉIRE () is Irish for "Ireland", the name of both an island in the North Atlantic and the sovereign state of the Republic of Ireland which governs 84% of the island's landmass. The latter is distinct from Northern Ireland, which covers the remainde ...

" (

for Ireland) and the year the coin was struck, written in

Gaelic type Gaelic type (sometimes called Irish character, Irish type, or Gaelic script) is a family of Insular script typefaces devised for printing Classical Gaelic. It was widely used from the 16th until the mid-18th century (Scotland) or the mid-20th ...

. These in turn are surrounded by the 12 stars of the

flag of Europe The Flag of Europe or European Flag consists of twelve golden stars forming a circle on a blue field. It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe. Since 1985, the flag has also been ...

. On the one-euro coin the stars appear on the gold coloured surround with the harp and words in the silver coloured centre. The colours are in the reverse for the two euro coin.

Circulating mintage quantities

The following table shows the mintage quantity for all Irish euro coins, per denomination, per year.

Commemorative coins

Limited release in 2010, featuring an Irish hunter horse and foal. Limited release in 2011, featuring a salmon and smolt. Limited release in 2012, featuring an Irish wolfhound and pup. Wide release (in common with all Euro nations) in 2007, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the

Treaty of Rome The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...

. Wide release (in common with all Euro nations) in 2009, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the

Economic and Monetary Union An economic and monetary union (EMU) is a type of trade bloc that features a combination of a common market, customs union, and monetary union. Established via a trade pact, an EMU constitutes the sixth of seven stages in the process of economic ...

. Wide release (in common with all Euro nations) in 2012, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

coins and banknotes. Wide release (in common with all Euro nations) in 2015, commemorating the 30th anniversary of adoption of the

European flag The Flag of Europe or European Flag consists of twelve golden stars forming a circle on a blue field. It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe. Since 1985, the flag has also been ...

by the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

. Wide release in 2016, with the figure of

Hibernia ''Hibernia'' () is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (c. 320 BC), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). ...

, commemorating the centenary of the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

. Wide release in 2019, commemorating the centenary of the

First Dáil The First Dáil ( ga, An Chéad Dáil) was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919 to 1921. It was the first meeting of the unicameral parliament of the revolutionary Irish Republic. In the December 1918 election to the Parliament of the Unite ...

Usage of 1 cent and 2 cent coins

As 1c and 2c coins are of comparatively low value, a National Payments Plan prepared by the

Central Bank of Ireland The Central Bank of Ireland ( ga, Banc Ceannais na hÉireann) is Ireland's central bank, and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It is the country's financial services regulator for most categories of financial firms ...

approved by

the Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

in April 2013 plans "to trial the use of a rounding convention in a pilot project in a mid-size Irish town", with the 1c and 2c no longer being minted while remaining legal tender. The cost of producing a 1 cent coin is 1.65c and the cost of producing a 2 cent coin is 1.94c. Beginning on Wednesday 28 October 2015 Ireland followed The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Hungary and, in introducing so-called

Swedish rounding Cash rounding or Swedish rounding (New Zealand English) occurs when the minimum unit of account is smaller than the lowest physical denomination of currency. The amount payable for a cash transaction is rounded to the nearest multiple of the min ...

. While individual prices are still shown and summed up with 1-cent precision, the total sum is then rounded to the nearest 5 cents when paying with cash. Sums ending in 1, 2, 6 and 7 cents are rounded down; sums ending in 3, 4, 8 and 9 cents are rounded up. The 1 cent and 2 cent coins remain legal tender, and rounding is voluntary for both the customer and retailer, the

advises "for Rounding to happen, both the retailer and the customer must accept it; both will have the right to use exact change". Rounding applies only to cash payments and does not apply to bills paid electronically - by debit card, credit card or by store card.

References

External links

European Central Bank – Ireland
{{Euro topics, state=expanded Euro coins by issuing country

euro coins There are eight euro coin denominations, ranging from one cent to two euros (the euro is divided into a hundred cents). The coins first came into use in 2002. They have a common reverse, portraying a map of Europe, but each country in the eurozone ...

Currencies of the Republic of Ireland