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€2 commemorative coins are special euro coins minted and issued by member states of the eurozone since 2004 as legal tender in all eurozone member states. Only the national obverse sides of the coins differ; the common reverse sides do not. The coins typically commemorate the anniversaries of historical events or draw attention to current events of special importance. In 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2015, there were common commemorative coins with only different national inscriptions. Up to 2014, one hundred and eighty-three variations of €2 commemorative coins have been minted – six in 2004, eight in 2005, seven in 2006, twenty in 2007 (including the thirteen versions of the common issue), ten in 2008, twenty-five in 2009 (including the sixteen versions of the common issue), twelve in 2010, sixteen in 2011, thirty in 2012 (including the seventeen versions of the common issue), twenty-three in 2013 and twenty-six in 2014. Finland, Luxembourg, San Marino and the Vatican City are the only countries to have released at least one national commemorative coin every year. Cyprus, Ireland, Lithuania and Estonia have not minted any national commemorative coins yet.
The number of commemorative coins is limited to two (before 2012 to one) per country per year (in addition to any common issue) and to 5 percent of the total mintage output. Limits on the designs are also in place to ensure uniformity.
The €2 commemorative coins have become collectibles, but are different from commemorative coins with a face value different from €2, which are officially designated as "collector coins" and usually made of precious metals.[1]
The basis for the commemorative coins is derived from a decision of the European Council, which allowed changing the national obverse sides of euro coins from 1 January 2004 onwards.[2] However, a number of recommendations and restrictions still apply.
Two restrictions concern the design. Euro coins must still have a common reverse side, so only the national obverse sides may be varied. Also, the standard national obverse sides per se should not be changed before 2008 at the earliest, unless the head of state depicted on some coins changes before then. (This clause already came into effect for Monaco and the Vatican City, whose heads of state—Rainier III and Pope John Paul II respectively—died in 2005 and whose national obverse sides were changed for 2006.)
Further regulations restrict the frequency and number of commemorative coin issues. Each member state shall only issue one commemorative coin per year, and it shall only be denominated as a €2 coin. The total number of such coins put into circulation per year should not surpass the higher of the following two numbers:[3]
Another decision added two more guidelines regarding the design of the coins. The state issuing a coin should in some way clearly be identified on the obverse side, either by stating the full name or a clearly identifiable abbreviation of it; and neither name nor the denomination of the coin should be repeated on the obverse, as it is already featured on the common reverse side.[4]
These restrictions do not apply retroactively; only new designs—the national obverse sides for regular issues of states newly joining the euro or of eurozone states which change their design, and €2 commemorative coins issued from 2006 onwards—are subject to them. However, the five countries whose designs violated the first update to the rules (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany and Greece) initially were assumed to have to change their design in the future, which Finland did for 2007[5] and Belgium for 2008.
Another decision changed the rules again:[6]
Belgium was forced to change its design back to show the original portrait of its monarch, because the 2008 update to follow the recommendations also updated the portrait, which was against the rules. The Belgian coins from 2009 onwards show the original royal portrait of 1999, but otherwise keep the new 2008 coin design as far as the country identification and year mark are concerned. These provisions additionally prohibit further sede vacante sets of coins by the Vatican City, allowing only commemorative coins for such occasions. Spain updated their design from 2010 onwards to meet the new rules, leaving Austria, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg and Slovenia in breach of them still.[7]
In 2012, the European Council set up new specifications of euro coins and named (in article 1g) a deadline for national sides of regular coins to be updated to fully comply with the current regulation: 20 June 2062.[8] Also in 2012, a new EU regulation on the issuance of euro coins was concluded, increasing the allowed number of national €2 commemorative coins per year to two.[9]
Eighteen countries have independently issued €2 commemorative coins (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the Vatican City), with Greece being the first country to issue this type of coin. Cyprus, Estonia, Ireland and Lithuania are the only Eurozone states which have not independently issued a commemorative €2 coin; the remaining country, Andorra, has announced the issue of a coin dated 2014 but it has not been circulated yet. There have also been four common €2 commemorative coins issued by all eurozone member states:
Issued designs are made public in the Official Journal of the European Union.[10]
A similar Dutch law, which requires the portrait of the current head of state of the Netherlands and the words NAME (Koning/Koningin) der Nederlanden to appear on all coins issued by the Netherlands (for example, currently Willem-Alexander Koning der Nederlanden) was amended so that the Netherlands could take part in this program; the amendment completely removed the requirement for €2 commemorative coins.
Furthermore, due to Belgium's special multilingual society, the Belgian coin features the inscription PACTVM ROMANVM QVINQVAGENARIVM in Latin.
The three micro-states which also use the euro due to an official agreement with the European Union (Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City) did not issue this coin, as they are not member states of the European Union. However, some member states of the European Union which had not yet introduced the euro also took part in this program. For example, Cyprus issued a £1 coin and Hungary a 50 Ft coin with the same design.
PRÉSIDENCE FRANÇAISE UNION EUROPÉENNE RF; the mint mark and the mintmaster's mark are located below, to the left and the right respectively. The twelve stars of the European Union surround the design on the outer ring of the coin.[86]
Due to special laws requiring that every coin bear the incumbent Grand Duke's portrait, the Luxembourgish edition of the common €2 commemorative coin differs slightly from the others in addition to the translated inscriptions, since two latent image of the Grand Duke's portrait were added (as required by national law). The method used (multi-view-minting) was even more sophisticated than the one used in 2007, as portraits of the Grand Duke from the left and the right could be seen, depending on which way one tilted the coin.[114]
The winner was George Stamatopoulos, a sculptor from the Bank of Greece Mint.
Note: Although the design is the same as the 2012 common issue, the coin is issued as national coinage since common side issues are restricted to EU member states.
fresco by Andrea del Castagno, around 1450 c. (Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi); around, on the bottom, BOCCACCIO 1313 2013; on the right, superimposed letters R (monogram of the Mint of Rome)/RI(monogram of Italian Republic)/m (monogram of the Author Mauri). The coin's outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.[178]
Germany started the commemorative coin series Die 16 Bundesländer der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (The 16 States of the Federal Republic of Germany) in 2006, which will continue until 2021. The year in which the coin for a specific state is issued coincides with that state's Presidency of the Bundesrat.[213] The coins issued are:
The other six coins will be issued in the following years; note that some designs are not yet finalised and still subject to change. Originally, the designs for the following states were different:[213]
The series is similar to the United States' 50 State Quarters series, which saw fifty coins issued for its fifty constituent states, five per year between 1999 and 2008. A separate program saw six coins issued in 2009 for the District of Columbia and five territories of the United States.
[214] Malta issued a series of five €2 commemorative coins, all related to the Maltese constitutional history. The first coin was released in 2011 and the last coin was minted in 2015.[215]
The five issued coins are:
Spain started the commemorative coin series Patrimonio de la Humanidad de la UNESCO (UNESCO World Heritage) in 2010, commemorating all of Spain's UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which could continue until 2050. The order in which the coin for a specific site is issued coincides with the order in which they were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.[217] The coins issued are:
The coins planned to be issued in the coming years are:
Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg, France, United Kingdom
Spain, Portuguese language, Lisbon, Porto, Madeira
Italy, Europe, Italian language, Rab, Jesus
European Union, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada
Brussels, Andorra, United Kingdom, Canada, Wallonia
Iso 3166, Niobium, San Marino, Vatican City, Titanium
Eurozone, European Union, European Central Bank, Netherlands, Cyprus
Vatican City, Euro coins, Eurozone, Pope John Paul II, Politics of Vatican City
Gold, World War II, United Kingdom, Canada, Silver