Here is some background info about that Latvian Maiden: http://www.bank.lv/en/money/5-lats-collector-coin (This refers to a gold piece issued in 2003 which uses the very same design.) What CoinWeek says about Monaco is outdated, by the way. They write that "Monaco is allowed to issue coins under the French euro quota (1/500th of the coins minted by France)" ... Well, here are the relevant parts of the 2011 Monetary Agreement: The conditions for issuing euro coins as from 1 January 2011 are laid down in the following Articles. [...] The annual ceiling (in value terms) for the issuance of euro coins by the Principality of Monaco shall include: - a fixed part, whose initial amount for 2011 is set at EUR 2 340 000; - a variable part, corresponding in value terms to the average per capita coin issuance of the French Republic in the year n-1 multiplied by the number of inhabitants of the Principality of Monaco. The agreement also specifies that, quote, at least 80 % of euro coins intended for circulation shall be put into circulation at face value each year by the Principality of Monaco. But of course that does not apply to each single issue. So they could do what the Vatican does - make quite a few pieces of one denomination only, and sell the others in sets only ... Christian
Hehe ... actually I am lousy when it comes to maths (or chemistry or physics) but this I don't find very complicated. Until 2011, Monaco had 1/500 of the annual French volume. Easy to calculate, but bad when/if the French government decides that, in Year X, only very few new coins are needed. Now - since 2011 - they can issue coins worth €2.34m (fixed), plus a couple more - and only that second (considerably smaller) part depends on the French volume. In 2011 for example the total volume was €2.427m. All four monetary agreements (Monaco, Vatican, Andorra, San Marino) have such combinations of fixed and variable issue volumes now. And while this won't really matter from an American point of view, I suppose, using such outdated info does look a little odd in such a context. Heck, we all make mistakes, and it sure is not easy to always be up to date, but the 2010/2011 monetary agreements were made also because of issues such the ones mentioned in that article. Whether the world will now be a better one, as far as Monegasque coins are concerned, remains to be seen. Now the Latvian Maiden - yes, that is a design which not only many in Latvia like. Currently she does not show up on circulation coins, but you see her on the 500 latu note. That one may be a little costly; the face value is about €720 or $880. But in case Latvia introduces the euro, and it seems they still plan to do that, she would be on the somewhat more affordable €1 and €2 coins. Christian
French Euros = F Monaco Euros = M F * 1/500 = M Now M + 2,427,000 + F * X = Mtotal where X = The amount of Mustard Lou Costello eats on his hotdog. Now if you integrate the who thing the area under the curve is equal to the M2 Money Supply of Monaco except for their gold reserves which the Royal family uses to court movie stars (Anne Hathaway is the latest target). I have to tell you, the Riviera sucks and I'll take Fire Island any day...
