view topic in forum
10 Years of EMU
Feature:
10th anniversary of the EMU.
Description:
The euro is the latest step in the long history of trade, from pre-historic barter – evoked by the deliberately primitive design– to economic and monetary union.

The coin shows a stick figure which merges into the € symbol. It seeks to convey the idea of the single currency and, by extension, Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) being the latest step in Europe's long history of trade and economic integration.

The coin will be issued by each euro area country and show the name of the country as well as the legend 'EMU 1999-2009' in the respective language(s).

The design was chosen out of a shortlist of five by members of the public across the European Union voting online. It was created by George Stamatopoulos, a sculptor from the Minting department at the Bank of Greece.
Production: Date of Issue:
84,085,000 1 January 2009
A detail page and larger image for each issue is forthcoming:

Austria

Belgium

Cyprus

Finland
 

France

Germany

Greece

Ireland
 

Italy

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands
 

Portugal

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain
 
Notes:
  • The final design for this issue was selected from among 13 designs submitted from the NCBs of the EMU. See here for more details.
  • The winning design was created by Γεώργιος Σταματόπουλος (Georges Stamatopoulos) from the Central Bank of Greece.
  • About 90 million will be produced for release into circulation.
  • The three micro states participating in the EMU by special agreement, will not participate in this program.
  • The design was chosen by competition.
    • On the basis of a design competition between the Mints of the euro area followed by a pre-selection of designs by the Mint Directors, the winning design was chosen exclusively by EU citizens and residents by voting on the specific web site set up for this purpose.
    • The design that received the highest number of votes was selected as the winner.
    • Voting began on 31 January and closed on 22 February 2008.
    • The winner was announced on 25 February 2008.
  • An announcement was made on 12 November 2007 by Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker at a press conference.
  • This is the second collective €2 commemorative coin to be issued. The first was the Treaty of Rome commemorative in 2007.
  • Special Thanks to Rob Kooy (The Netherlands) for providing small images for Malta, Finland, Spain, Netherlands, Ireland and Portugal