0-euro notes : 0 e. 20 Years of Euro

In 2022, the majority of Europe is used to travel abroad and use one currency in nearly all European countries. 20 years ago, 12 countries started to use the common currency and left their own national valuta.

Meanwhile, the design of the notes has changed, and more countries has joined the Euro-zone.

To celebrate this second decade of euro money, Belgium has issued a commemorative 0-euro note.

United in Diversity - 20 years EURO

On the 0-euro note, that was issued in 20,000 copies, we see the map of Europe, with all countries that use the Euro-currency, in a dark colour.

Detail 20 years Euro

From Finland in the north, to Cyprus in the south east.
The text 'United in Diversity' is written in English. A bit strange, since except for Ireland and Malta, English is not an official language in any of the other countries in Europe.

to be continued...

Euro Promotion Notes 1998

After many years of cooperation on economical, cultural and legislational matters, the end of the 20th century meant the introduction of a new currency in the mayor parts of the European area.
In 1999 euro was officially introduced as a new currency, but it lasted till 2002 until the coins and banknotes were actually put in circulation.

As a way to say 'goodbye' to the old national currencies, and a 'welcome' to the new  notes, a lot of promotion was made. Informational posters with explanation on the new currency, as well as toy money for the kids to practise.

France issued some specimen notes, using the same sizes and colours as the the soon-to-be notes.
In a set of 8 notes, the mayor countries that started using the euro, were presented.

promotional material for the EURO currency

5-euro:
On the 5-euro, all (last) Italian notes in lira are shown

5 euro detail (Italy)

10-euro:
Here we see all Portugese notes in escudos

10 euro detail (Portugal)

The 20-euro note depicts the last issue of the Spanish peseta notes

20 euro detail (Spain)

50-euro:
For the next note, all of the last Dutch guilder notes were chosen

50 euro detail (The Netherlands)

100-euro:
Here we find the last notes issued in Belgian francs

100 euro detail (Belgium)

200-euro:
On the second highest denomination, we find all notes in German marks

200 euro detail (Germany)

500-euro:
Finally, we see the last notes in French francs

500 euro detail (France)

On the reverse side of the 'notes', we see all 12 flags of the intitial countries, forming the European monetary union (as well as two European flags with the Euro-sign.

reverse side of the promotional notes

detail of the reverse side of the 'notes'

Althoug this is (was) promotional material, these notes are offered on various vending sites, and prices vary from 1 - 2 USD / EURO per note.
For a full set, about 10 $ / € is asked.

Currency today : the Netherlands 02

In several European countries, recently princes have enherited the thrones of their fathers.
Moneywise, lost of coins therefore, have new designs, with the new monarch depicted.

In The Netherlands, Queen Beatrix has abdicated in favour of her son King Willem-Alexander.
As I wrote earlier, when a king/queen is depicted facing the left, his ancestor and his successor will be depicted facing the left.
see : http://rainbowstampsandcoins.blogspot.com/2013/03/currency-today-netherlands-01_6734.html

Queen Beatrix appears on all coins looking to the left, so King Willem-Alexander is looking the opposite way.

The first new coin that was issued, is the regular circulation coin.

On the left we see Queen Beatrix, facing the left, on the right, King Willem-Alexander is facing right.
The design of the king's head is also a more modern design.

Queen Beatrix (left) - King Willem-Alexander (right)

Two commemorative coins were also emitted, both with the two monarchs.
On the left coin, (the Beatrix-coin) we see the Queen in the front (facing left as usual) en behind her
the former prince Willem-Alexander.

The second coin (thed Willem-Alexander-coin), shows King Willem-Alexander in the front (facing right as usual) en behind him, former Queen, now Princess Beatrix.

Queen Beatrix (left) - King Willem-Alexander (right)

It's a nice tribute to the countrywide respected Queen Beatrix, and a nice way to express the change of power in the Netherlands.

Currency Today : Euro Common Design 01 d

The last set of TOR - coins only have few interesting marks, or even none at all.

Portugal and Spain

TOR Portugal 2007

Both countries have the logo of their national mint mark on the coin.
For Portugal it's :  INCM  "Imprensa Nacional – Casa de Moeda" (National Currency – Mint House) abbrev.

For Spain it's : "Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (National Factory of Currency and Stamps)" logo
 

TOR Spain 2007

The last 3 coins don't have any mint mark at all


Austria, Ireland and Slovenia

TOR Austria 2007

TOR Ireland 2007

TOR Slovenia 2007

Currency Today : Euro Common Design 01 c

Let me continue with the TOR coins.

13 countries participated in the first common design.
All together emitting 17 coins, as Germany has 5 different coins.

The countries are :
Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany (5) : see previous post

and Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.

Finland (Suomi)

Finlands coins are more rare then most other coins in this set. As Finland has no countries next to them that are using Euro coins as well, the finnish coins don't get spread that easily.

TOR Finland 2007

1. the finnish mint mark can be found in the outer circle of the coin.
  is the mint mark of the finnish mint


France

Together with german coins, french coins get spread widly all over Europe.
The french coin has two mint marks too?

TOR France 2007

1.  The cornucopia can also be seen on some coins of Luxemburg, but it's a french mint mark.

2. The hunting horn and waves is the master mint mark of H. Larivière.



Greece

Not all greek coins are made in Greece.
Some of them are minted in Spain, Finland or France.
In that case they bare the letter E (Spain), S(uomi - Finland) or F (France) in one of the stars.

TOR Greece 2007

1. the accantus leaf is the symbol of the Athens Mint

Italy

The last coin for now is the italian TOR coin.
Italy doesn't put 'treaty' of Rome, but 'treaties' of Rome, as there was more then one agreement that was signed on this event on March 25, 1957.

TOR Italy 2007

1. treaties of Rome
2. "R" mint mark of Rome

Currency Today : Euro Common Design 01 b

After a long introduction, finally the TOR-coins.
TOR stands for Treaty of Rome and eurocollectors often refer to TOR-emmision to indicate this special issue of the 2 euro coins in 2007.

Each participating country can issue one commemorative 2 euro coin per year.
Until now all coins have a mutual design for the value.
The 2 euro on the european map is uniform for all countries.
The front side is different for all countries.
One special issue is allowed per year.
But next to that special issue, there is the possibility to have one common issue for all countries.

In 2007 the first 'common design' was issued.
This in remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in 1957.


The design shows an open book, (with the treaty), the text "Treaty of Rome" in all individual languages, the year 2007 and the name of the issuing country.

TOR Belgium

The first coin is the most interesting one : Belgium


1. Because of all national languages in Belgium, Europe is "EuropA" in Dutch and German and "EuropE" in French. To avoid language problems, EUROP A/E is on the belgian coins.

2. As it was impossible to print 'treaty of Rome' in the 3 national languages, an original solution was found... "Pactrum Romananum Qvuinquagenarium" (the latin translation) can be found on the coin.

3. However the country's name again is in French, Dutch and German again

4. Scale : mint master mark of Romain Coenen (from 2008 on all belgian coins)

5. Head of Archangel St Michael, patron saint of Brussels

Another unique coin is the coin from Luxemburg

Luxemburg has a law that says that the head of state (i.e. Grand Duke Henri of Luxemburg) should always be present on the coins. This is a problem with a 'common design' for all european countries. But the luxemburgians (or Lëtzebuergians) found an elegant solution to that problem.

A small circle was added with the Grand Duke's face.

1. The Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg appears on the coins facing to the left. He was not featured on the Luxembourgish franc as he only became Grand Duke in 2000 following the abdication of his father, Jean. Jean's portrait on the francs showed him facing to the right and it is common in a number of countries for successive monarchs to alternate the direction they faced on coins. Other euro coins issued by member states which are monarchies show their monarchs facing to the left, in common with the effigy on their legacy currencies.

2. Lëtzebuerg is the name of Luxemburg in the national language.

3.    the cornucopia, a French mintmark, since all luxemburgian coins of 2007 and 2008 were minted in France

4. Also a mint master mark : hunting horn with waves : from the french mint master : H. Larivière




Third coin : the Netherlands

Few special marks on the Dutch coin

1. Sailboat, master mint mark of Maarten Brouwer.
Since 2003 on the dutch coins

2.  Mercury's wand : mint mark of the royal dutch mint


last coin for this post .... are 5 coins : Germany

Next to the year 2007 : 5 different letters can be found on german coins :
They refer to the state and city they are minted. In fact we're talking about 5 different coins.

A: Berlin
D: Munich
F: Stuttgart
G: Karlsruhe
J: Hamburg


to be continued...

Currency Today : Euro Common Design 01 a

There are thousands of blogs already dealing with the topic of Euro coins.

So why this on my blog as well ?
Well in order to make a difference, let's try a different approach ...

1957 was the year that the movie "12 angry men" was issued.
12 angry men, tells the story of a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or acquittal of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt. In the United States (both then and now), the verdict in most criminal trials by jury must be unanimous one way or the other.

In the beginning of the movie, 11 member of the jury plead 'guilty' and only one is convinced of the innocence of the suspected murder. As discussions go on, one by one reviews their opion and by the end of the movie, 11 out of the 12 are in favour of voting 'non-guilty' and only one is convinced the accused should be found guilty.
Finally the accused is found not guilty by all of the jury members, and this thanks to the effort of one in particular who can convince everyone else...

Screenshot : 12 Angry Men - 1957

Maybe the link with the 12 angry men is a bit fetched, still I see some point of comparison

Isn't 12 also the number of participating states of the European Union?
Not that the European Union is guilty to anything, but didn't it take a lot of discussions, in confined places? With few member states taking the initiatives... in order to get everyone so far to give up some personal objections in favour of a greater ideal?

On March 25, 1957, some 'angry' men from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Wester Germany, Luxemburg and Italy, gathered in Rome.
In 1951, the same 6 countries already agreed on a european cooperation for Coal and Steel. This second set of Treaties made the base for all european cooperation in the future.

Signing the Treaty of Rome - Rome 1957

The 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome was celebrated on 25 March 2007. The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community and notably paved the way for the introduction of the euro in 1999 and euro banknotes and coins in 2002. The euro-area Member States had decided to issue a common commemorative 2-euro circulation coin on this occasion. It has been agreed that the design presented on the national face should be the same in all countries. The European Mints have organised a competition to select the most attractive design. 

A jury (once more) composed of Ms Berès, representing the European Parliament, Mr Junker as President of the Eurogroup, and Commissioner Almunia, selected on 5 May 2006, the design of this commemorative coin which was issued in 2007. The winning design shows the Treaty signed by the six founding countries on a background evocating the paving (designed by Michelangelo) of the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, where the Treaty was signed on 25 March 1957.

The translation of the word 'Europe' appears above the book. The translation of the words 'Treaty of Rome 50 years' is inscribed above the design. The year 2007 and the national name of the issuing country are inscribed under the design. The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer ring. 

2 euro common design 2007

13 countries have issued this TOR-coin (Treaty of Rome) - Germany issued 5 different letters on the coins : A - D - F - G and J  (so 17 different coins in total).


more about the coins in my next post ...

Collecting : my collection 02a

As I just welcomed the 5.000 th visitor, I think it's time to post more about my own collection.
For those who read the first articles about 'my collection', I tried to explain the 'logic' I'm putting in my collection, using different colours for putting an order in my countries.
This isn't for no reason.
The colours are connected to the albums I use for my stamps, banknotes and coins.


As I took 'blue' for all European countries, this is reflected in my stamp, coins and banknote albums:

Davo Albums (Europe - MNH)

Davo Albums (Europe - MNH)

Davo Albums (Berlin - MNH)

Davo Albums (Berlin - MNH) - detail)

Davo Albums (Berlin - MNH) - detail)

For my cancelled collection, I don't use the 'expensive' DAVO albums.
I just use stockbooks.
Again blue for Europe, the other colours for the other continents :

Stockbooks - Europe - Cancelled

The whole set of (already sorted out) albums.

to be continued

Europe : CEPT - 04 "1958"

The 1958 emission of Europe CEPT - stamps was issued in 8 countries.
Switzerland didn't join that year.
All designs are similar, except for Turkey who made its first contribution to the CEPT program.

On the design a white stylistic dove is on top of an "E".

Luxemburg emitted 3 stamps, as it also did in 1956 and 1957.
This year the set isn't the most valuable of the whole emission.

Luxemburg 1958 - mint

France 1958 - with a beautiful cancel on the 20F

Belgium 1958 - mint

Italy - both cancelled in 1958

The Netherlands - with a very nice cancel 'TERNEUZEN' in 1958

Germany and Saarland, with nearly the same designs.

Turkey, participating for the first time, chose a diffent design.
A branch is growing out of a trunk. Symbolizing the new Europe growing from a cut three (probably refering to the rebuiling of Europe after the second World War.

Turkeys first contribution to CEPT