Has there been any news on when the 17 Euro-Zone countries will be issuing their joint issues of the 2 Euros to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome? Aidan.
Errm, 17? All member states of the European Union that have the euro participate in that program - that will be 13. The three non-members (MC, SM, VA) do not issue those coins. The official date of issue is 25 March (the Treaty of Rome 50th anniversary) but since that is a Sunday, most of the pieces will be available one day later. The German coins http://www.ecb.eu/bc/euro/coins/comm/shared/img/comm_2007_de.jpg will actually be available on that Sunday ... but only at a coin show in Stuttgart where the Numismatic Office is one of the exhibitors. The ECB has some images here - switch to a different language to see other country/language versions. http://www.ecb.int/bc/euro/coins/comm/html/comm_2007.en.html In addition to the 13, Cyprus and Hungary (EU members but not euro countries) also issue coins with the common design. (Cyprus) http://www.centralbank.gov.cy/media/pdf/CEANE_TreatyofRome_photos.pdf (Hungary) http://www.penzvero.hu/actimgview?59 Christian
17 Euro-zone types from 13 Euro-zone countries... the 5 Mints from Germany are the reason for the 17.
Ah yes, 17 types makes some sense. I don't collect Germany by mint mark, so for me the German pieces count as one. Also because the "five designs" are identical. (Side note: Strictly speaking there are four mints in Germany. But one of them has two minting facilities, Karlsruhe/G and Stuttgart/F.) The Treaty of Rome coins are very similar - that was the idea behind this common issue - but of course there are country/language related differences. Austria and Germany, for example, are both German speaking countries, but the Austrian coin says "Vertrag von Rom" (literally "Treaty of Rome") while the German one says "Römische Verträge" (lit. "Roman Treaties"). Both are OK - there was actually more than one treaty, but the EC Treaty was the more relevant one. Note that the text in the upper part of the Belgian coin is in Latin, to avoid having three different language versions. The piece from Luxembourg is curious too, due to the latent image featuring the grand duke. (LU can apparently not issue a single coin without his effigy.) The mintages are: Austria: 9,000,000 Belgium: 6,000,000 Germany/A: 1,165,000 Germany/D: 14,665,000 Germany/F: 8,165,000 Germany/G: 5,165,000 Germany/J: 1,665,000 Greece: 4,000,000 Finland: 1,400,000 France: 9,600,000 Ireland: 4,800,000 Italy: 5,000,000 Luxembourg: 2,047,500 Netherlands: 6,025,000 Portugal: 1,000,000 Slovenia: 400,000 Spain: 9,600,000 The mintage figures are still subject to change, and include the pieces for BU and proof sets. (Hence the sometimes "odd" numbers.) Christian
Christian,I like the design of the Cypriot 1 Pound coin.I wonder if it will be issued as a circulation coin.I haven't seen the design for the Maltese coin yet. Aidan.
The coins from the euro countries, and from Hungary, will actually be issued for circulation. The commem from Cyprus will not - there will be a silver £1 proof coin (mintage 1,000) which costs £20, and a Cu-Ni £1 unc coin in a capsule (mintage 10,000) which costs £3. And the prices get exorbitant http://www.centralbank.gov.cy/media/pdf/CELSE_PRICELISTNUMITEMS0207.pdf if you want to buy from outside Cyprus ... Malta has no plans to participate in that program. Well, none that I am aware of. Christian
Christian,you're right about the Central Bank of Cyprus.It sounds like that they have got a 3 tier pricing structure in which their customers,especially those from outside the European Union,are getting ripped off. What do you think? Aidan.
Agreed, except that non-EU customers get the better - or "not quite that bad" - deal. The EU prices (yellow columns) include the VAT and are thus a little higher than the export prices. If I can get the coin at a price that is closer to the face value (maybe from dealers/swappers), then I will buy it. If not ... oh well. Christian
More info about the design(s) and mintages of the euro commemorative coins to be issued on that occasion: http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance.../commemorative_coins_en.htm#commemorative2007 Christian
Spock1k,I've managed to get the Irish Treaty of Rome commemorative 2 Euros,plus the 2007 'normal' coins from the 2 Euros right down to the 1 Euro-Cent.They arrived in today's mail from a contact in Ireland. Aidan.
Romania has now issued a collector coin with the Campidoglio/Treaty design too. But the mintage is very low, only 500 pieces. http://www.bnro.ro/En/Press/E20070509num.htm Christian
