The Irish poun (English) or punt Éireannach (Irish) was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the usual notation was the prefix £, or IR£ where confusion might have arisen with the pound sterling or other pounds. The Irish pound was superseded by the euro on 1 January 1999, when the Irish pound legally became a subdivision of the euro; actual euro currency did not begin circulation until the beginning of 2002.