Germany · 10 years of EURO cash

The euro goes back to the Economic and Monetary Union agreed in the Treaty of Maastricht. Prerequisites for participation included requirements concerning price stability, government debt, budget deficits and interest rates. The European Central Bank was founded in 1998. On 1 January 1999, the euro initially came into force as book money; at the same time, the exchange rates of the participating national currencies were irrevocably fixed. Transfers, financial transactions and government accounts could already be settled in euros, while national banknotes and coins continued to be used in everyday life.

Euro cash came into circulation in twelve states on 1 January 2002. The previous currencies, including Deutsche Mark, French franc, Italian lira and Spanish peseta, were withdrawn during short transition periods. The changeover to cash was an extensive logistical operation: banks, retailers and operators of vending and cash machines had to be supplied or technically converted, prices had to be displayed in parallel, and large quantities of old cash had to be taken back. The common currency was intended to facilitate cross-border payments and price comparisons and to eliminate exchange-rate risks within the currency area.

By 2012, the number of euro-area countries had grown to 17 states. Several of the issuing countries had therefore been using the currency for less than ten years. The common issue year did not refer to their respective national introductions, but to the beginning of euro cash as a whole.

Politically, the coin appeared during a tense period. Since 2009, the European sovereign-debt and banking crisis had exposed considerable differences between the economies of the currency area. Bailout programmes, budgetary requirements and new instruments for stabilising the monetary union were the subject of controversial debate. The common issue set against this the idea of a united currency area.

Such common issues combine identical imagery with the respective state designations and national mint inscriptions. Common 2-euro issues had already been released in 2007 and 2009 to mark European anniversaries. The occasion in 2012 continued this practice and, because of its direct connection with the means of payment used every day, was particularly suitable for a circulating coin.