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Message:: [QUOTE="chrisild, post: 702954, member: 39"]Well, he is and he's not. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />  As coin collectors we may be too much focused on when the euro cash became legal tender. That was 1 January 2002 indeed. The euro, however, was "born" on 1 January 1999 - on that day the currencies of the participating member states became "non-decimal sub-units" of the euro, with fixed exchange rates. And non-cash payments have been possible in € for more than ten years. In that first phase, there were 11 euro countries; Denmark and Greece stayed out but their currencies joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM-II). In January 2001, Greece became a euro country too. In 2007, Slovenia followed; Cyprus and Malta in 2008, and Slovakia in 2009. What is a little misleading is the part about the €2 coins. They are regular coins, just like the €1 pieces for example. However, there are also commemorative €2 coins. They have the same common sides as the regular pieces but a special country specific side, kinda like the US state quarters. Note that all euro countries also issue so-called collector coins, usually in silver and gold. Those are legal tender is the issuing member state only, thus regional money. But since they do not really circulate anyway, that hardly matters. Christian[/QUOTE]