I have got in my collection a few Euro related tokens & other pieces. Here is a list; Spain N.D. 10c. Obverse; Euro sign with '10 CENT' below.Crowned 'M' mintmark at right.There are 12 stars around just close to the edge. Reverse; 'EURO EN PRUEBA.10 CENT.' This piece is in medal alignment. I don't know when this was struck,but I believe that this is part of a series.It is slightly smaller than the circulation New Zealand $1 coin. Perpignan 1998 1 Euro Token. Obverse; A castle keep & the inscriptions,'PERPIGNAN LA CATALANE' & 'PERPINYA LA CATALANA'. Reverse; '7-28 Mars 1998' at top.12 stars & the inscription,'1 euro de PERPIGNAN' with an uncertain mintmark to the left of 'PERPIGNAN'. This piece is in coin alignment.It is around the size of a 50c.It is brass. This piece is very unusual.It is a 5 Euro from the Netherlands dated 1997.Yes,it has the usual privy marks flanking the date. Obverse; 'JOHAN VAN OLDENBARNEVELT',ship & portrait. Reverse; 'KONINKRIJK DER (Lion) NEDERLANDEN'.12 stars.Stylised wing design.There is a dove with an olive branch & the denomination with the date & privy marks below. This piece is in cupro-nickel.It also has a milled edge.It is in medal alignment,which is very unlike most Dutch circulation coins.It is slightly smaller in size than a silver $1. If you have any information about these pieces,can you please leave a posting.If you have any other pieces,can you please scan them.
Could be one of the "test coins" used in Churriana, a suburb of Málaga. The crowned M is the mint mark of the Spanish Mint (FNMT-RCM). For about a week in late September/early October 1998 those coins were used in Churriana in a local "euro test", three months before the euro was actually created. Here is some info (in Spanish) with pictures of the "coins" used in that test: http://www.angelfire.com/ga/garnata/Churriana.html As for "coin" vs "medal" alignment, all euro coins (in fact, pretty much all European coins made nowadays) have what in the US is called "medal" alignment. So I suppose it made some sense to use that for the test pieces as well ... Christian
Christian,thank you for that.Those pieces look a lot larger than the regular Euro coins.The regular 10 Euro-Cent for example is very small.
By the way, the WBCC has a wide collection of bimetallic coins, medals and tokens online, including "test euros" ... http://www.wbcc-online.com/france/france1.html (also France p. 2, 7, 8, 9, 11) http://www.wbcc-online.com/italy/italy3.html (also Italy 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) http://www.wbcc-online.com/germany/germany.html It is fairly difficult nowadays to tell which pieces were at least half-official (say, issued by local banks and used for some "euro weekend" etc.) and which are medals made for collectors only. Christian
The Spanish 10c piece is an official government issued Euro trial piece, PN-18, estimated Unc worth about $3.
I have never found my pattern 10 Euro-Cent piece from Spain in Krause.Aren't they a privately inspired series,even though they were struck at the Royal Spanish Mint in Madrid? Aidan.
I have a 8 pieces set of spain "EURO PRUEBA". The 1 , 2 Euro are Not bimetallic like other Euro coins.
Guess you two are referring to the Spanish "test coins" used in Churriana (near Málaga). In late September/early October 1998 these, umm, circulated there for less than a week. Here is an article (in Spanish) with some pictures of those pieces: http://www.angelfire.com/ga/garnata/Churriana.html Such "tests" were carried out in several other euro countries too. The last one I know of was in Doullens (near Amiens, France) in October 2001 where they used plastic chips instead of metallic coins. Christian
I received a Spain 5 cent test euro from a collector from Europe in 2002. It is the only "test" euro that I have seen over here in the U.S. I don't know if it has much value or how many were made and used. Any one of you know more?
If that is one of the Churriana test coins (see link above), mintage should be 200,000. Don't know about the value ... Here is another text about those pieces: http://www.grup-palma.org/euro/euroch-i.htm Christian
