Euros

History: On January 1st 2002, the euro became the currency of 12 European Union (EU) member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and three micro-states: Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City.

Symbol: The euro symbol - € - , developed by the European Commission, was inspired by the Greek letter epsilon and also denotes the first letter of the word "Europe". The two parallel lines refer to the stability inside the euro area.

The common front side: The design of the 1-, 2-, and 5-cent coins symbolises Europe’s place in the world as a whole. The image on the 10-, 20-, and 50-cent coins shows all the EU member states coming together. Finally, the 1- and 2-euro coins depict a Europe without frontiers. All coins feature 12 stars in their design.

The national side: Each country participating in the euro has its own design on the national side of the coin. These designs vary from simply depicting the same design on all coins (i.e. Belgium) to a different design for every coin (i.e. Italy). However, all coins feature 12 stars on this side as well.

€2 Commemorative issues: Since 2003, the European Commission allows any eurozone country to issue one commemorative circulating €2 coin per year. Their technical features must be the same as regular circulation €2 coins. They are also required to be of legal tender throughout the euro area, intended for circulation, issued at face value, and must indicate the year of issue. Greece was the first country to issue such a coin, to commemorate the 2004 Olympic Games.

On January 1st 2007, Romania and Bulgaria joined the eurozone, bringing the total to 27 member countries. With Cyprus and Malta adopting the euro in 2008, and Slovakia in 2009, 16 of these countries now use the euro as their currency.