You'd need a heart of stone not to laugh! They may be sensitive about the fact that since the battle of Waterloo,France has not had a military victory in those 200 years. It may be that Napoleon's campaigns killed off so many millions of French fighting men that a permanent genetic shift towards peaceful cheese and wine makers took place.
Don't think that is the issue. Think of what, for example, the US military has done in the past seventy years - not so much to be proud of. But of course it depends on one's individual views whether some war or battle or invasion is counted as a "victory". In the past three months, this commem brouhaha has apparently led to reviving the "Waterloo spirit" in the UK. And now apparently in the US too. Sure, in March I was surprised as well and wondered why the French government would object to such a Belgian €2 commem. Then again, this is not the first time that one euro area member state, or the European Commission, had problems with certain commems or designs. But those did not affect people or places that involved the British or Americans. Of course the UK issued coins that celebrate the Waterloo anniversary, and both Belgium and the Netherlands do so too. For the latter two it makes sense as Waterloo 1815 is, in a way, the "birthplace" of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands. Plus, Waterloo is in Belgium. It may make sense to keep in mind, however, that for much of Continental Europe the effect of the battle was the restoration of the old regimes. Here in Rhineland for example the French reforms of the late 18th and early 19th centuries were mostly welcomed. Things got bad when people had to feed Napoleon‘s soldiers and/or were killed in his war. But when Prussia annexed the area in 1815, the government was wise enough to not replace the modern Code Civil with the traditional laws that still applied in the old Prussian lands. As for the €2.50 coin, this New York Times article claims there is "a little-known European Union rule that allows countries to issue euro coins of their choice, provided they are in an irregular denomination." Umm, this may not be well known in countries outside the euro area, but all euro countries have issued lots of such pieces every single year. They are called collector coins, and European Union law specifies that, unlike circulation and commemorative €2 coins, they * are not issued with a view to their entry into circulation, * have the status of legal tender only in the issuing Member State. * Also, "Member States shall take all appropriate measures to discourage the use of collector coins as a means of payment." You can buy the Belgian brass €2.50 piece in a coincard, or as part of the annual set; the €10 issued on the same occasion is a silver coin. The Dutch €5 Waterloo piece is silver; there is also a €10 gold piece. All these issues are surcharged. Christian
Tried to find some images. As far as I know, these - provided by the mints - are free to use, so here we go ... Belgium €2½ (brass - Cu63 Zn37). Mintage 100,000 - that is, 70,000 coincards and 30,000 in the BU sets. The other side is shown in the New York Times article, but it is basically the same that is also used for the €10 silver piece, see further below.
UK £5, followed by NL €5 ... The other side of the British coin features Queen Elizabeth as usual, and the face value. The Dutch piece can be had in silver, but also in a silver-plated copper version (plus the €10 gold piece which has the same design).
You forget WWI. The French were some tough mother hubbards in that war. Can't say the same for the second war...by then, they were either fascist or communists and the French Army seemed sympathetic towards the Nazis, hence not much of a fight took place.
Last year, by the way, I was in Northern France and visited the Anneau de la Mémoire (Ring of Memory), a new memorial site dedicated to soldiers killed, in WW1, in the Nord/Pas de Calais region. It is a huge ring of walls that list the names of about 580,000 soldiers, sorted alphabetically no matter what rank or passport they had. Could not imagine anything like that in any Anglo-Saxon country. But I don't think such a memorial would be appropriate for WW2. Ah well, here in the euro area we do have a series about "70 Years of Peace" (in the European Union Member States) this year ... Christian
I'm not entirely sure why, if it is not issued with a view of circulating, they bother calling it any domination of euro and just have it as a struck commemorative. Does the appropriate mint 'charge' the money to the government for producing the money coin with the intention that money is pure profit less costs? I find it sad to see coins like the Churchills being sold off so cheaply - I don't own any but it feels wrong that our history is sold cheaply just as a souvenir. These coins, if not legal tender will follow into the vastly reduced commemorative bucket in the near future. As an after thought to the poster above, the war graves commission is the fall back in our wills. Every site we have visited has been well card for and a lovely memorial.
"70 years of Peace" -brought to you by the makers of nuclear weapons. The coins should feature Pershing and SS-20 missiles on them.
Many if not most mints in Europe are either independent companies or profit centers. Since the production of circulation coins does not generate much profit, making surcharged commems, and medals (and maybe gimmicks for Niue, Palau, etc.) helps keeping the mints profitable ... Absolutely nothing wrong with military cemeteries being taken care of. I just found it very interesting that the Anneau de la Mémoire lists all those names alphabetically - no "he fought against them and died for us", no ranks. The In Flanders Fields museum in Ieper, BE (went there on the same trip) has a similar approach. But I think that can work, and makes sense, with WW1 only. Christian
The concept behind this "70 Years" silver series is different. At the end of WW2, several European countries (Belgium and France among them) found that, the closer our political and economic integration is, the less likely a war among European countries will be. Of course we still had military conflicts and atrocities in Europe later, but not among countries that are EU member states. Back to Waterloo - I find it odd how the Royal Mint emphasizes that this battle "began almost 100 years of peace." (Source) Not in Continental Europe where Waterloo is after all. Apart from the fact that shortly after the restoration of the "pre-Napoleonic order" there were the 1830 and 1848 revolts and revolutions, Britain's Waterloo ally Prussia was involved in or started several wars in the 19th century years after that ... Christian
Again, a surcharged collector coin not made for circulation. That is from a series featuring Frankish/French heads of state. Started with Clovis and Charlemagne, ends with Charles de Gaulle and François Mitterrand. Christian
