The design of the national sides, then fifteen (eurozone plus Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican who could also mint their own coins) was the subject of national competitions, but was subject to some uniform specifications such as the requirement to include twelve stars (see euro coins for more). The design of the 1 to 5-cent coins was intended to show the European Union's (EU) place in the world (relative to Africa and Asia) while the one and two euro coins showed the 15 states as one and the 10- to 50-cent coins showed separate EU states.

The common side was designed by Luc Luycx, a Belgian artist who won a Europe-wide competition to design the new coins. The coin dates from 2002, when euro coins and banknotes were introduced in the 12-member eurozone and its related territories. The coin has been used since 2002 and was not re-designed in 2007 as was the case with the higher-value coins. All euro coins have a common reverse and country-specific (national) obverse. The 5 euro cent coin (€0.05) has a value of one twentieth of a euro and is composed of copper-covered steel.

The Irish 20c coin dates from 2002, when euro coins and banknotes were introduced in the 12 member Euro Zone and its related overseas territories.Globe with the EU-15 highlighted next to the denomination shown in Latin characters The alloy used is 89% copper, 5% aluminium, 5% zinc, and 1% tin.Nordic gold is the gold-coloured copper alloy from which the middle three denominations of euro coins, 50 cent, 20 cent, and 10 cent coins are made. Plane but with seven broad indentations (Spanish flower shape) the ECB explained that the the Spanish flower shape was chosen to help the visually-impaired.a type of coin flan shape, consisting of a smooth edge separated into equal sections by seven indents.The 20 cent euro coin (€0.20) has a value of one fifth of a euro and are composed of an alloy called nordic gold in the Spanish flower shape.

Composition of 20 cent euro coin