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The €uro & you
€uro Coins
"Can you find me a Luxembourg one euro?" "I've found a Finnish one cent coin for you." "Where can a find a poster with pictures of all the coins?" Such comments are still common currency in the euro area eighteen months after the euro coins were introduced.
Offers of euro coins are abundant in online auctions; there are websites for swapping coins and websites for tracking how quickly the coins turn up in pockets and purses in other euro countries. Residents of the euro-area still regularly check the change in their pockets to see which coins they have picked up. They may well find they are carrying around the coins of half a dozen nations, particularly if they live in a major capital or travel regularly.
The euro notes look identical wherever they were printed (though aficionados can tell from the serial number where they came from). The coins, on the other hand, have distinct national features which have made them collector's items. "We underestimated the fun side of the coins," says a senior official who was involved in the launch of the euro. He rues the fact that more was not made of the appeal of the variety of coins when they were launched, rather than concentrating on ensuring the coins were recognised and accepted.
The euro coins are a microcosm of European culture, history and geography. Toss a euro coin and if it comes down tails, it will show the denomination (1, 2, 5, 10, 20 or 50 cents and 1 and 2 euro) and one of three versions of a map of Europe. These map designs are by Belgian artist, Luc Luycx, who works at the Belgian Mint.
Not only was Luycx's design popular with the jury in the competition organised by the European Commission for designs which either expressed architectural and ornamental styles, European personalities or aims and ideals of the European Union, but it topped a subsequent poll to test the design. Nearly two-thirds of those polled preferred his designs and there were no significant differences across the Member States, between men and women, or by level of education.
Designing maps for such a small surface area is no mean task. Even the smallest state, Luxembourg, had to be visible, but there was a limit to what could be done to accommodate all the islands from the Hebrides to Crete, from the Canaries to Gotland. The solution after much debate: only islands of more than 2,500 sq.km. and archipelagos of more than 5,000 sq.km. have been included.
Luycx was no stranger to European themes when he won the competition for the European side of the euro coins. He had already designed one side of a Belgian commemorative coin for the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome. Since then his designs have been used for Belgian commemorative 10 and 100 euro coins, including one for the 50th anniversary of the European Coal and Steel Community.
Flip the euro coin again so it comes down not 'tails' but 'heads' and it will still be clear that it is a euro coin: it will show the twelve stars of the European flag. But it will be clearly identified with a country. The process will be an instant lesson in European culture, geography and history.
The coins fall into two broad groups: those from the countries with hereditary rulers and those minted by republics. The first group in most cases show the sovereign's head - King Albert of Belgium, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, the Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and on Spain's one and two euro coins, King Juan Carlos of Spain. Plus, of course, the Prince and the Crown Prince of Monaco on the one and two euro coins of Monaco. Monaco is one of three countries outside the euro-area where euro coins are used officially. The others are the Vatican (which has coins carrying an image of the Pope) and a republic, San Marino.
The republics- and Spain for five of its coins - use a variety of figures from literature, mythology, art and history. Or they may use well known national symbols on some of the coins, like the oak leaves which were on the German pfennig and have been carried over into the low-denomination cent coins as a sign of continuity.
The sower on some of the French coins conveys the same association of ideas between the former currency and the euro. The design is one of 1,240 submitted by 97 coin designers in France's euro coin design competition. The elements of continuity in Finland's coins include a heraldic lion which has featured on Finnish markka coins and a motif of two flying swans originally submitted as a design for a coin to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Finnish independence.
Each republic has a different approach, ranging from a single basic theme, like the Irish harp, to a different design for each coin, Austria, Greece, Italy and San Marino use eight different designs - chosen in the case of Italy by means of a phone-in during one of Italy's most popular TV programmes.
Many of the coins have a common thread throughout the national sides of the coin, but are still individually distinctive. A close look at the Austrian coins shows that they all incorporate a representation of Austria's red-white-red flag but the main designs are of mountain flowers (such as the Edelweiss), national monuments and national figures, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Italy too has a range of motifs from monuments to national figures, like the poet Dante[1] as portrayed by the artist, Raphael.
Well known monuments are popular choices. They include the Brandenburg gate in Berlin, the Colosseum in Rome, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain or the Palazzo Publico (the seat of Parliament) of San Marino - to name but a few. Portugal's coins, on the other hand, carry the seals of the country's first monarch, Alfonso 1 (Alfonso Henriquez), who ruled from 1128 to 1185, but they are bordered in some cases by depictions of Portuguese castles.
Flip the euro coin in Greece and instead of calling 'heads and tails', it will be possible to hark back to the origin of coin-flipping and call 'capita aut navia' (heads or ships) as they did in Ancient Rome. Greece's one-, two- and five-cent coins show an Athenian trireme, a nineteenth century corvette and a twentieth-century oil tanker.
"Anyone who fears that being part of the euro area could bring a loss of identity only has to look at the coins," says European Commissioner, Pedro Solbes, "to see that it is perfectly possible to combine one Europe and many cultures."
The front of each coin has the same design for all 12 countries in the euro area.
The reverse side displays different designs for each country, created by their own national artists (see: http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/section/euro0/coins.html)
All coins can be used anywhere in the euro area.
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