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CC 109 2012
2 euro coin
BU Main coin Bank issue
2 Euro BU
France · 10 years of euro cash
Mintage10,000,000
Issue date5 Jan 2012
Edge lettering2 ★ ★ × 6, alternating upright/inverted
Market price€8.90
Issue occasion
The joint issue commemorates the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the euro. At its centre is the euro sign, surrounded by symbols representing people, the financial sector, trade, industry, energy, and research and development: the European Central Bank tower (EZB-Turm), ships, factories, and wind turbines. The design refers to the growing importance of the euro in the European and international monetary system.
The design
The euro sign in the coin’s inner section illustrates that the euro has become an exceptionally important factor in Europe and worldwide and has developed into a global player in the international monetary system over the past ten years. The design elements arranged around the euro sign symbolise the importance of the euro for people, the financial world (ECB Tower), trade (ships), industry (factories), the energy sector, and research and development (wind turbines). The artist’s initials “AH” appear below the image of the ECB Tower. The names of the issuing countries in their national languages are positioned centrally above the design, with the years 2002-2012 inscribed below.
The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the coin’s outer ring.
The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the coin’s outer ring.
Background on the topic
The euro was not created only in 2002. The third stage of the Economic and Monetary Union began as early as 1 January 1999. The exchange rates of the participating national currencies were irrevocably fixed, and monetary policy was transferred to the European System of Central Banks. Initially, however, the euro existed primarily as book money, for example for transfers, accounts and trading on the financial markets.
Euro banknotes and coins entered circulation in twelve Member States on 1 January 2002. During a short transitional period, the previous means of payment could still be used in many places; thereafter, currencies such as the Deutsche Mark, the French franc, the Italian lira and the Spanish peseta lost their status as legal tender. For the population, trade and banks, the changeover to cash required the distribution of large quantities of new coins and banknotes, as well as the adjustment of prices, cash registers and vending machines.
The common currency originated in the European integration process and the Economic and Monetary Union agreed in the Treaty of Maastricht. To participate, states had to meet requirements relating, among other things, to price stability, government debt and exchange rates. The European Central Bank had already been established in 1998. Together with the national central banks, it determines monetary policy for the euro area.
At the time of the anniversary, 17 EU states belonged to the euro area. The issue also coincided with the period of the European sovereign debt crisis, during which disputes arose over budgetary supervision, financial assistance and the institutional structure of the monetary union. As a result, the tenth anniversary of euro cash took place in a politically tense environment.
The joint coin project drew on a special feature of euro coins: they have a common European side and a national side for which the issuing states are responsible. For the anniversary issue, this national side was designed jointly as an exception. The design was selected through a competition; citizens and residents of the euro area chose among five shortlisted proposals in an online vote. This was intended to make the cross-border character of the occasion visible in the selection process as well.
Euro banknotes and coins entered circulation in twelve Member States on 1 January 2002. During a short transitional period, the previous means of payment could still be used in many places; thereafter, currencies such as the Deutsche Mark, the French franc, the Italian lira and the Spanish peseta lost their status as legal tender. For the population, trade and banks, the changeover to cash required the distribution of large quantities of new coins and banknotes, as well as the adjustment of prices, cash registers and vending machines.
The common currency originated in the European integration process and the Economic and Monetary Union agreed in the Treaty of Maastricht. To participate, states had to meet requirements relating, among other things, to price stability, government debt and exchange rates. The European Central Bank had already been established in 1998. Together with the national central banks, it determines monetary policy for the euro area.
At the time of the anniversary, 17 EU states belonged to the euro area. The issue also coincided with the period of the European sovereign debt crisis, during which disputes arose over budgetary supervision, financial assistance and the institutional structure of the monetary union. As a result, the tenth anniversary of euro cash took place in a politically tense environment.
The joint coin project drew on a special feature of euro coins: they have a common European side and a national side for which the issuing states are responsible. For the anniversary issue, this national side was designed jointly as an exception. The design was selected through a competition; citizens and residents of the euro area chose among five shortlisted proposals in an online vote. This was intended to make the cross-border character of the occasion visible in the selection process as well.
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