Greek euro coins

Greek euro coins feature a unique design for each of the eight coins. They were all designed by Georgios Stamatopoulos with the minor coins depicting Greek ships, the middle ones portraying famous Greeks and the two large denominations showing images of Greek history and mythology. All designs feature the 12 stars of the EU, the year of imprint and a tiny symbol of the Bank of Greece. Uniquely, the value of the coins is expressed on the national side in the Greek alphabet, as well as being on the common side in the Roman alphabet. The euro cent is known as the lepto (λεπτό; plural lepta, λεπτά) in Greek.

Greece did not enter the Eurozone until 2001 and was not able to start minting coins as early as the other eleven member states, so a number of coins circulated in 2002 were not minted in Athens but in Finland (€1 and €2 – mint mark S), France (1c, 2c, 5c, 10c and 50c – mint mark F) and Spain (20c – mint mark E). The coins minted in Athens for the euro introduction in 2002, as well as all the subsequent Greek euro coins, do not carry any mint mark.

Euro coins

There are eight euro coin denominations, ranging from one cent to two euros (the euro is divided into a hundred cents). The coins first came into use in 2002. They have a common reverse, portraying a map of Europe, but each country in the eurozone has its own design on the obverse, which means that each coin has a variety of different designs in circulation at once. Four European microstates which use the euro as their currency also have the right to mint coins with their own designs on the obverse side.

The coins, and various commemorative coins, are minted at numerous national mints across the European Union to strict national quotas. Obverse designs are chosen nationally, while the reverse and the currency as a whole is managed by the European Central Bank (ECB).

History

The euro came into existence on 1 January 1999. It had been a goal of the European Union (EU) and its predecessors since the 1960s. The Maastricht Treaty entered into force in 1993 with the goal of creating economic and monetary union by 1999 for all EU states except the UK and Denmark (even though Denmark has a fixed exchange rate policy with the euro).

1 euro coin

The 1 euro coin is a euro coin with a value of one euro (€1). It is made of two alloys: the inner part of cupronickel, the outer part of nickel brass. All coins have a common reverse side and country-specific national sides. The coin has been used since 2002, with the present common side design dating from 2007.

As of July 2015, there were approximately 6.7 billion one euro coins in circulation, constituting 26.4% of all circulated euro coins by value and 5.9% by quantity.

History

The coin dates from 2002, when euro coins and banknotes were introduced in the 12 member Eurozone and its related territories. The common side was designed by Luc Luycx, a Belgian artist who won a Europe-wide competition to design the new coins. The design of the one and two euro coins was intended to show the European Union (EU) as a whole with the then 15 countries more closely joined together than on the 10 to 50 cent coins (the 1 to 5 cent coins showed the EU as one, though intending to show its place in the world).

2 euro coin

The 2 euro coin (€2) is the highest value euro coin and has been used since the introduction of the euro (in its cash form) in 2002. The coin is used in the 22 countries not including the vatican coin which have it as their sole currency (with 20 legally adopting it); with a population of about 332 million. The coin is made of two alloys: the inner part of nickel brass, the outer part of copper-nickel. All coins have a common reverse side and country-specific national sides. The coin has been used since 2002, with the present common side design dating from 2007.

The €2 coin is the coin subject to legal-tendercommemorative issues and hence there is a large number of national sides, including three issues of identical commemorative sides by all eurozone members.

History

The coin dates from 2002, when euro coins and notes were introduced in the 12 member eurozone and its related territories. The common side was designed by Luc Luycx, a Belgian artist who won a Europe-wide competition to design the new coins. The designs of the one and two-euro coins were intended to show the European Union (EU) as a whole with the then 15 countries more closely joined together than on the 10 to 50-cent coins (the 1-cent to 5-cent coins showed the EU as one, though intending to show its place in the world).