Currency Centre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Currency Centre is the mint of coins and printer of banknotes for the Central Bank of Ireland, including the euro currency. The centre is located at Sandyford, Dublin, Ireland. Currently the centre does not print the complete range of euro banknotes and instead imports those which are required from other banknote printers.

The centre was designed by the architect Sam Stephenson, for which he won the RIAI Triennial Gold Medal in 1977-1979 and opened for business in 1978. Previous to the creation of the centre coins for the Republic of Ireland were produced in the Royal Mint.

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, were minted in September 2000 whilst the final banknotes were printed in April 2001.

The Currency Centre is known also as the Irish Mint, even though that is strictly incorrect.