Punters still changing old money for new
It is now 23 years since the Punt ceased to the legal tender here with the introduction of the euro across Europe in 2002.
However, new figures provided by Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe TD (FG) in a written Dáil reply show that more than two decades on people are continuing to find old punts and pence 'at the back of the couch' with £134,587 in old money exchanged for €170,890 from January 1st to the end of April 25th this year.
In the Dáil reply to Aidan Farrelly (Soc Dem), Mr Donohoe has revealed that since 2015 to the present a total value of £7.05 million in Irish Punt banknotes and coins have been exchanged for €8.96 million based on the IR£1 = €1.269 exchange rate.
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The £134,587 in punts exchanged so far this year followed £451,496 for the 12 months of 2024 which was, in fact, an increase on the £419,794 exchanged by the central bank in 2023.
The exchange of punts for euros reached a low of £326,746 during the Covid-19 hit 2020 and there has been a decline in the level of punts exchanged from the years 2015 to 2017, when more than £1 million was exchanged in each of those years for euros.
Across the decade-plus long period, the central bank has received 1,737 applications from members of the public with punt amounts more than £750 with an overall value of £5.17 million.
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Over the period from 2015, the central bank received a further 4,091 applications from members of the public, totalling £1.39 million in value for punt totals between £150 and £749.
Commenting on the reply, Mr Farrelly said: 'I am surprised by the amount of so-called 'old money' still being converted to euros, given the duration of time that has passed since the State adopted use of the euro.
He said: 'I don't have a memory of using punts, I seldom see the former currency so when I do, to be honest it is somewhat of a novelty.
The Kildare North TD said: 'The Minister has provided an informative response in relation to thresholds for applications of the various sums that have been converted, it clearly illustrates that there was and likely is still small stockpiles of the old currency out there somewhere.
For those looking to exchange amounts above £750, the central bank asks individuals to demonstrate from where the banknotes came and that would include reliable and independent data, documents or information to evidence the source of funds and/or proof of their ownership of the banknotes.
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