The Currency Centre (; also known as the Irish Mint) is the

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

and

banknote A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commerc ...

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

for the

Central Bank of Ireland The Central Bank of Ireland () is the national central bank for Ireland within the Eurosystem. It was the Irish central bank from 1943 to 1998, issuing the Irish pound. It is also the country's main financial regulatory authority, and since 2 ...

, including the

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

currency. The centre is located in

Sandyford Sandyford () is a suburb of Dublin, located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. Sandyford Business District makes up much of the suburb and encompasses 4 business parks: Sandyford Business Park, Stillorgan Business Park, Central Park and S ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The centre does not print the complete range of euro banknotes; other denominations are imported. The centre was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Sam Stephenson Sam Stephenson (15 December 1933 – 9 November 2006) was an Irish architect who studied at the Bolton Street School of Architecture, which is now known as Technological University Dublin. Many of his buildings generated considerable c ...

, for which he won the

RIAI Triennial Gold Medal The RIAI Triennial Gold Medal has been awarded since 1934 to the best building completed in the preceding three years by a member of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. Recipients {, class="wikitable" ! Years ! Building ! Architec ...

in 1977-1979. Construction began in 1972, with the first notes being printed in 1974. In 1976, the Currency Centre printed the first notes of Series B along with the first mint of Irish coins. Before the centre was established,

Irish coins Irish coins have been issued by a variety of local and national authorities, the ancient provincial Kings and High Kings of Ireland, the Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1801), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922), the Irish Fr ...

were produced in the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...

. The first euro coins were minted in the centre in September 1999, whilst the first banknotes were printed in April 2000; these commenced delivery to banks and retailers in September (coins) and October (banknotes) of 2001. The final Irish coins, based on the

Irish pound The pound ( Irish: ) was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or £Ir for distinction.) The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin circulation unti ...

, were minted in September 2000 and the final banknotes were printed in April 2001. The decision to continue printing euro notes in

when those notes could be printed much more cheaply on existing presses elsewhere was described as a colossal waste of money in April 2012.

References

External links

RIAI Gold Medal for Currency CentreGoogle Maps satellite view
Irish companies established in 1978 Currencies of the Republic of Ireland Mints of Europe Banknote printing companies Sandyford {{money-stub