A historic event took place on January 1 this year (2011) to the Estonia Coinage. Estonia, as you know, was a member of the former Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Since the break-up on December 21, 1991, eleven of the former socialist republics declared an Alma-Alta (with the 12th republic - Georgia (attending as an observer) - that with the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ceases to exist. Estonia, being one of those former members, had to create their own mint to produce circulating coinage. During 2010 Estonia qualified for entry into the European Currency Exchange Union. As a result of their acceptance, on January 1, 2011, Estonia became the first former USSR member nation to officially utilize the Euro and issue Euro coins. All eight standard Euro coins feature a map of Estonia on one side, and the standard Euro designs featuring maps of Europe on the other. The 8 coin set, dated 2011, includes the 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 Euro cent and the bi-metallic 1 and 2 Euro coins. Here's photos of each coin in the 8-coin set courtesy of Don's World Coin Gallery: Estonia New Euro Cent: ESTONIA NEW EURO CENT Estonia New 2 Euro Cents: ESTONIA NEW 2 EURO CENT Estonia New 5 Euro Cents: ESTONIA NEW 5 EURO CENTS Estonia New 10 Euro Cents: ESTONIA NEW 10 EURO CENTS Estonia New 20 Euro Cents: ESTONIA NEW 20 EURO CENTS Estonia New 50 Euro Cents: ESTONIA NEW 50 EURO CENTS Estonia New Euro ESTONIA NEW EURO Estero New 2 Euro ESTONIA NEW 2 EURO Did you enjoy this post? Clinker
I actually got the exact 1 cent euro in change yesterday. Its my first euro of any kind. Some of the coins are neat.
Very cool I just can't wait until the dollar is more equal with the Euro so that when I buy some coins from European nations it doesn't cost my an arm and a leg that and the price of silver hopefully will not go much higher. (I tend to buy silver coins for my foreign coin purchases.)
Since going to Europe this past December, I've grown to appreciate the European coinage system and eagerly await the USA implementing the 1 dollar and 2 dollar coins! I was actually amazed at how fluidly cashiers gave out the 1 and 2 Euro coins in addition to the 50 Euro cent coins!
Interesting that for all the gloom and doom news with the Euro, it is still getting new members. Thanks, Clinker.
If it was up to some people in the Anglo-Saxon world, the euro had already died soooo many deaths ... By the way, the name of the small unit is simply "cent". Also, Estonia does not have a mint. Like some other euro countries, it has its coins made elsewhere in the EU. The 2011 coins were all made in Finland. Christian
Thanks for the post. That is some information I would have never known and it was very interesting. On the other hand, Euro coinage makes our modern coinage look like art!
What I find amazing about the Estonian euro and cent coins is that this somewhat monotonous set - the same design for all eight denominations! - was actually the winner of a public design vote. Other artists submitted three or even eight different designs, but this one won ... In order to make them a little less boring the map of Estonia is incused on the cent coins but raised on the €1 and €2 coins. Also, the €2 piece shows two tiny islands that the other pieces to not show. Here are larger images of the three larger denominations: (50 cent) http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/images/coins/ee-050-2011.jpg (1 euro) http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/images/coins/ee-100-2011.jpg (2 euro) http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/images/coins/ee-200-2011.jpg Christian
Keep in mind that, for each of the eight denominations, there are 20 different designs (one from each euro country). Also, each euro country may issue a €2 circulating commem every year, and most do. In addition to those, there are collector coins (which do not actually circulate, and are legal tender in the issuing member state only). But sure, they may all be bland. Fortunately there is no accounting for taste. Christian
Thank you for the initial post about these coins. We could even add another addendum: As you can imagine, depicting a map on a country's coins can be problematic if there are still tensions, to some extent, with a big neighbor. And thus ... http://news.err.ee/politics/f482ff04-3077-4417-abf4-a0c94b7d9f90 http://news.err.ee/Politics/dff83ad4-55e3-4505-a50a-206998457c47 http://rt.com/politics/estonia-russia-euro-coin/ The map does show the current border by the way. So don't expect a modified version next year. But it is interesting to see how such issues are sometimes "blown up" first. Christian
Hello Log Potato: Thank you for reading this post and for leaving your first comment on one of my TRIVIA articles... Clinker
