Given to me by a friend some time back, i search thru Krause but dont seem to be able to located it. Anybody got any info on it ? Thank
Its not a coin but a token for sure. I googled for Thomas Cook Bankers and found out that they are a currency exchange firm in France. So its probably their issued token.
Not a coin because: No country name Dated the year before the Euro came into existence as a monetary denomination Dated four years before Euro coins were first issued Lacks the common side design Bears the name of a private company Crisild can probably add some more reasons.
Right, not a coin. Actually the lack of a country name would, by itself, not be a reason to say that it's not a coin - see most German pieces. The oldest euro coins are dated 1999 since that is when the currency was "born" - and since that time it has basically been against the law to use the word "euro" on such medals. So in early '98 it was still OK to do so, as in this case. As you wrote, Thomas Cook does not issue its own coins, hehe. This token or medal may not be worth much, but the side with those Parisian monuments is nice ... Christian