Hey everyone, I've been keeping this away for a while and I suppose the reason is because I have no idea about it really and looking around on google this seems like the best place to ask. On one side it has Europa with a Bull and the year 1995, the other side it shows 10 ECU. If anybody has any idea's that would be great as I'm completely stuck and searching google is coming up with nothing that I can see, no pictures, no information or details. Sorry the photo is not too clear, I could try and take a better one later if anybody thinks it would help.
I do not think that is a Euro. It looks like it says 1995 or 6, which is at least 3 years before the Euro was introduced. Better pictures would help a lot. I think it might potentially be Spanish.
My mistake on the 1995, didn't realize you wrote it. ECU is a proposed hypothetical currency (like the Amero) that the Euro took over. One ECU is equivalent to one Euro, but since there is no head bank for the ECU, I don't know if this coin has any value attached to it. I do know however that Gibraltar minted several ECU coins as a commemorative along with Belgium I believe.
Perhaps I was misinformed, I seem to recall somebody mention that it was a percentage of a Euro, but I also recall the same person was unsure to a degree. I think the initial information I was given was that it could be One Eighth of a Euro, but I couldn't be sure for certain. I also think the coin could possibly be Greek or Italian, likely commemorative although I have no prior coin knowledge, only what I have learned through skimming the internet about several coins that have ended up on eBay over the last few years. I've taken a few more photos with a better camera this time although I find it hard to get a clear enough shot. I would add IMG tags around them but they are quite big. Code: http://i47.tinypic.com/b7z12c.jpg http://i48.tinypic.com/3328b9z.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/285yza.jpg http://i50.tinypic.com/sec2ew.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/vrrjpk.jpg http://i50.tinypic.com/11vsair.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/2w7li7c.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/2agrajn.jpg http://i45.tinypic.com/oe4pk.jpg I have tried taking a closer look and on the "10 ECU" side on the edge it has Unione (I think) and then Europea next to it. Around the edge of the opposite side I think it reads "istituto pol****ico e fecca bello stato" The *'s representing digits I can't quite read 100%, I hope this is enough for somebody to provide further information about this coin.
It's Italian, it says "Italia" underneath the 10 ECU. Unione Europea means European Union. If it is gold it will be worth the melt value. I do not believe the coin was minted in Rome (pictures too fuzzy to find mint mark) but never the less I believe this falls under the category of a "fantasy coin" as it was never commissioned (to my knowledge).
Thanks for the information. By melt value do you mean its weight in gold? There is a mark on the coin but I wouldn't be able to get a photo good enough as its very small but it does look like some kind of hallmark.
1 ECU = 1 EUR The ECU existed in theory only. The euro was intentionally set up to equal the ECU though.
Precisely. The ECU exists in theory, which means that there was no bank to issue official coinage. His coin is a "fantasy" coin. The face value means diddly when determining value. It is worth the melt value, though there might be a niche for it meaning it could be worth more. Good luck trying to find a collector though who would pay big bucks for it.
Yes and no. The ECU was on one hand very real; unlike the amero it had an official currency code, and was actually used, as the name suggests, as a currency unit in EU internal and partly international trade. Right, there were no "ECU" coins like the euro coins we have now. However, Belgium for example did issue a few ECU coins, between 1987 and 1997, and those were legal tender. Sure, nobody really used them, but they were at least redeemable. But this does not apply to this Italian "coin" - that is a medal indeed. It was apparently made at the Italian Mint (Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato - IPZS), so maybe collectors of medals and euro precursors are willing to pay a little more for this than for some medal issued by some private company. With the emphasis on "maybe". Christian
Here is a similar piece - basically the same design but "5 ecu" in silver. http://i43.tinypic.com/24yut5z.jpg Istituto poligrafico e zecca dello stato -> Italian mint/IPZS (the portal site is here, and this is the mint) Central scene: Europa and the bull (Zeus) Mauri: coin designer Roberto Mauri (he also designed the current Italian 50 cent circulation coin) At the bottom, the year 1995. Unione Europea: European Union Medaglia da 5 ecu: 5 ecu medal (and below the silver content - 985, I think) Italia: umm, Italy. And I think that your gold piece also has the words "medaglia da" in pretty much the same position. So, a medal. That silver version had a mintage of 5000 from what I have found; have not seen anything about the gold version. But don't expect much beyond the gold value ... Christian
