Myron

I am confused about the euro coins. Are they minted in their own individual countries or are they manufactured in some central location? Do any contain mint marks?

JBK

Usually, no, and yes.

Some coins (Greece, for example) were outsourced early on when the large quantities were being minted for the eruro’s introduction. They have littler mintmarks in one star to show if they were one of these. Some other countries also outsourced some of their minting, without any special designation on the coin (but I know some 2 euro coins have the wring edge inscriptions as a result of the contracted country using it’s own lettering instead of that for the customer country.)

They are otherwise minted by each country (except maybe for the smallest countries, which might outsource).

Some contain “privy marks” showing the mintmaster or other person, but I personally do not consider these mintmarks as such, as all the coins have the same mark.,

In the case of Germany, however, there are five mints, and each has it’s own mintmark. As far as I know, no other country has multiple mints, or at least they do not have individual mintmarks.

crystalk64

Good job JBK! And it is really good to see someone else interested in Euros! I am not alone!!! Well, actually I only collect a full set of coins from each issuing country the first year and then move on to silver euros! Have amassed quite a set thus far!

Arcturus

JBK is correct. When the Euro was introduced Greece did not have the capacity to mint all the coins they needed on their own, so coins for Greece were partially minted in other countries.

The coins for San Marino and the Vatican are minted in Italy. I'm not sure on Monaco, but I think they are minted in France.

Germany has five mints and the coins from Germany have mint marks as follows:
A = Berlin
D = Munich
F = Stuttgart
G = Karlsruhe
J = Hamburg

One other thing might be interesting: several member countries of the European Union which issue Euros have agreed to bring out coins jointly to certain themes (such as the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II). To mark these commemorative coins (usually in silver), they have agreed on a special star symbol which can be found on these coins.

Hope this helps!

Spider

silver euros u say?

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Steve E

The more I read, the more I get interested in these Euros. Is it hard to put together a full set? Are the Euros expensive to collect? How many Euros have been minted to date? All I need...another collection!!!

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Just Another Hoosier
WINS #337

rggoodie

I am stil looking for three consecutively numbered GERMAN (letter X)
20 euro notes.
So when you euro coin collecors get more advanced, please remember me.
(Not as easy to find as you might think)

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Richard

crystalk64

Steve E, I am sure this will help you decide! Many of the Euro nations will sell their BU silver euros at FACE VALUE and they can be picked up at their local post offices. Now the proofs very greatly from country to country with many being very expensive so I tend to concentrate on the BU coins (We call them unc!) I have received silver euros in one quarter denominations, one and one quarter, 5 euro, 10 euro, 12 euro, 20 euro, and if I remember correctly without looking, probably an 8 euro? Lots of history and culture and I AM NOT looking at the same bunch of dead Presidents all the time. Glad I started when I did as the Euro now costs me a little more due to conversion rates but still great when purchased at face value.

Spider

whats this silver euro i hear of?

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JBK

What's the deal with 3? Is thatthe way they are collected? I saved some new ones when they were first issued, but doubtful that I have three of anythingm except maybe 5s.

KLJ

Those are commemorative euros. Each country that uses the euro is allocated a certain amount of circulating euro coins to mint. These are the coins used in regular commerce. However, each nation will still have people and events that they want to commemorate with coins. These coins are legal money only in the issuing nation, even though they're denominated in euros. It's done that way so that one country, or a collection of countries, can't destroy the value of the euro by flooding the economy with "unauthorized" coins.

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Soli Deo Gloria!

crystalk64

And so to keep an honest balance amoungnst nations I have asked that they ship all the silvers to me and then I can distribute accordingly! But, I don't think the EU is listening to me at all!

Spider

im on ur side crystal

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Arcturus

I have done some research to double-check where which Euro coins were struck and if they have mint marks or not.

In total there are 15 countries which have introduced the Euro as their national currency.

1) Belgium

The Euro coins from Belgium do not have a mint mark. They were struck by the Monnaie Royale de Belgique in Brussels.

2) Germany

The Euro coins from Germany have the following mint marks on the reverse side which identify the place they were struck:

A = Staatliche Münze, Berlin (20% of total)
D = Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt, Munich (21% of total)
F = Staatliche Münze Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart (24% of total)
G= Staatliche Münze Baden-Württemberg, Karlsruhe (14% 0f total)
J = Landesbetrieb Hamburgische Münze, Hamburg (21% of total)

3) Finland

No mint marks, minted at Rahapaya OY, Myntverket i Finland AB, Vantaa / Vanda

4) France

The normal coins are minted at Établissement Monétaire, Pessac. The commemorative coins are minted at Monnaie de Paris, Paris. All of these coins have a cornucopia (horn of plenty) as a mint mark.

Some of the commemorative coins also have a mark which identifies these as coins minted during the first year of the Euro. This mark consists of the Greek letter alpha and the year 2002.

Other signs on the coins identify the chief engraver. The sign that looks like a heart made of the letters “S” and “L” is for Serge Levet. The horseshoe is for Gérard Buquoy and the bee is for Pierre Rodier.

5) Greece

As I already mentioned Greece had some of its Euro coins made in other countries as their capacity was not sufficient. These coins are from 2002 only and have mint marks as follows:

F = France (Monnaie de Paris / Établissement Monétaire, Pessac) (1 Cent, 2 Cent, 5 Cent, 10 Cent, 50 Cent 2002 only)
E = Espana / Spain (Real Casa de la Moneda / Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, Madrid) (20 Cent 2002 only)
S = Suomi Finland (Rahapaya OY, Myntverket i Finland AB, Vantaa / Vanda) (1 and 2 Euro coins 2002 only)

These signs appear embossed in the star that is closest to the year.

The coins minted in Greece have a minted mark which looks somewhat like a plant with 7 leaves. These were minted at the National Mint, Halandri, Anthemion.

6) Ireland

No mint marks.

Minted at
- Banc Ceannais na hÉireann / Central Bank of Ireland, Currency Production Department, Sandyford
- British Royal Mint, Llantrisant

7) Italy

Mint mark is the letter R for Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Roma (Rome).

8) Luxembourg

Minted at Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt N.V., Utrecht, Holland. Mint mark is a symbol which looks like a letter “Y”. As far as I have been able to ascertain, this symbol is only on the cent coins (not on the 1 and 2 Euro coins).

Some of the commemorative coins were minted in Stuttgart, Germany (no mint mark).

Other symbols on the cent coins are for the coin directors in Utrecht. A bow and arrow with a little star for the vacancy under Erik J. Schouwenburg and the sail from the ship “Nederland” for Maarten T. Brouwer (starting with coins from the year 2003).

9) Monaco

Minted in France (Monnaie de Paris / Établissement Monétaire, Pessac --> cornucopia)

As in France, other signs on the coins identify the chief engraver. The sign that looks like a heart made of the letters “S” and “L” is for Serge Levet. The horseshoe is for Gérard Buquoy.

10) The Netherlands / Holland

The coins were minted at:
- Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt N.V., Utrecht (mint mark is a symbol which looks like a letter “Y”)
- British Royal Mint, Llantrisant (no mint mark)
- The Birmingham Mint Limited, Hockley (no mint mark)

Other symbols on the coin identify the coin director in Utrecht:
Bow and arrow: Chris van Draanen (1988-1999)
Bow and arrow plus star: Vacancy under Erik J. Schouwenburg (2000)
Wine leaf and grape: Robert Bruens (2001)
Wine leaf and grape plus star: Vacancy under Maarten T. Brouwer (2001-2002)
Sail from the ship “Nederland”: Maarten T. Brouwer (since 2002)

11) Austria

No mint marks, Minted at Münze Österreich (Austria) AG, Wien (Vienna)

12) Portugal

No mint marks. Minted at INCM (Imprensa Nacional e Casa de Moeda E.P., Lisboa / Lissabon).

13) San Marino

Mint mark is the letter R for Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Roma (Rome).

14) Spain

Mint mark is the letter M with a crown. Minted at Real Casa de la Moneda / Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, Madrid.

15) Vatican City

Mint mark is the letter R for Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Roma (Rome).



Commemorative coins have been issued in most of the member countries. These coins are usually in silver or gold. Some of the commemorative coins from Austria have a niobium core.

These coins (with the exception of the 2 Euro commemorative coins – see further below) are legal tender ONLY in the country in which they were issued.

These commemorative coins can have very unusual face values, e.g.:
8 Euro (for instance silver commemorative coins in Portugal)
1 1/2 Euro (for instance some of the silver commemorative coins in France)
12 Euro (for instance some of the silver commemorative coins in Spain)


On the 30th of September 2003 the European Commission decided that member countries may issue ONE 2 Euro commemorative coin per year which is legal tender in all member countries. These have the same face value side as the normal 2 Euro coins but a different reverse. In some cases these commemorative coins have replaced the normal 2 Euro coin in the respective country in that year (e.g. Austria has announced that in 2005 it will only issue the 2 Euro commemorative coin and none of the normal 2 Euro coin).

So far the following 2 Euro Commemorative coins have been issued:

2004:
Greece – Olympic Games, Athens 2004 (disc thrower)
Finland – 10 new member states in the European Union
San Marino – Bartolomeo Borghesi
Vatican City – 75th Anniversary of Vatican City
Luxembourg – Grand Duke Henri
Italy – World Food Programme

2005:
Luxemburg - Grand Dukes of Luxembourg Adolphe and Henri

The following countries have also announced that they will each issue a 2 Euro commemorative coin this year:

Spain
Austria
Belgium

The Vatican also had a coin planned for this year.


I hope that I got it all right (no guarantee!) and that this helps anyone interested.

cladking

The pre-euro coins have been getting an increasing amount of attention. Many of these were never collected when they were issued and were simply dumped into circulation and recently melted down for their metal. Now people are beginning to realize that even the coins that did appear in mint sets can be scarce and many were never issued in sets.

One would have to believe the redemption rates on many of the high denomination coins were very high.

Incredibly many of these can still be found very cheap but this can't last. Coins with populations under a few thousand can not help but attract some attention eventually.

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Tempus fugit