Irish pound The number of pence in the Irish pound was redefined from 240 to 100, with the penny symbol changing from "d" to "p". The pound itself was not revalued by this act and therefore pound banknotes were unaffected, although the 10 shilling note was replaced by the 50p coin. The new 5 pence coin correlated with the old 1 shilling coin, and the new 10 pence coin correlated with the old 2 shilling coin. New coins were issued of the same dimensions and materials as the corresponding new British coins. The Decimal Currency Act, 1970 made additional provisions for the
Decimal Day '2p' in the UK and simply '2' in Ireland. Decimal Day On 15 February 1971, known as Decimal Day, the United Kingdom and Ireland decimalised their currencies. Under the old currency of pounds, shillings and pence, the pound was made up of 240 pence (denoted by the letter "d" for Latin "denarius" and now referred to as "old pence"), with 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings (denoted by "s" for Latin "solidus") in a pound. The loss of value of the currency meant that the "old" penny, with the same diameter as the US half-dollar, had become of