Euro gold and silver commemorative coins
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This article covers only the Gold and Silver issues of the euro commemorative coins (collectors coins). It also includes some rear cases of bimetal collectors coins (Titanium, Niobium, ... etc.). Please check €2 commemorative coins for the other commemorative coins.
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[edit] Introduction
In the Eurozone, as a legacy of old national practice is the minting of silver and gold commemorative coins. Unlike normal issues, these coins are not legal tender in all the Eurozone, but only in the country where the coin was issued. For instance, a €10 Finnish commemorative coin cannot be used in the Netherlands.
Despite this, these coins are not really intended to be used as means of payment, as their bullion value generally vastly exceeds their face value, so it does not constitute a serious problem. The major exception is Germany, where silver ten euro commemoratives are available at banks and some retailers at face value. The coins, however, generally do not circulate.
It is uncertain whether the Council of Ministers will grant them legal tender status elsewhere outside national boundaries, as San Marino, Monaco and Vatican City also issue these kind of coins.
[edit] Summary
| Country | Issues | By Year | By metal | ||||||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | Gold | Silver | Others | ||||
| Austria | 80 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 34 | 40 | 6 | ||
| Belgium | 25 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 13 | |||
| Finland | 24 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 7 | ||
| Ireland | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | |||
| Slovenia | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
| Total | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
| Country | Issues | By face value | ||||||||||||
| €100,000 | €100 | €50 | €30 | €25 | €20 | €15 | €12.5 | €10 | €5 | €3 | €1.50 | |||
| Austria | 80 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 13 | 1 | |||||
| Belgium | 25 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | ||||||||
| Finland | 24 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 5 | ||||||||
| Ireland | 11 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |||||||||
| Slovenia | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Total | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
[edit] Austria
| Republik Österreich
Republic of Austria
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Austria joined the eurozone in 2002, and from the very beginning they have been minting a fairly large set of collectors' coins. The record was reached in 2004, when 14 different coins were minted. Also this year, there was a unique and particular edition of a very special coin: the €100,000 Vienna Philharmonic, only 15 coins minted.
Austria use mainly gold and silver for their collectors' coins. However, since 2003 a special bimetal coin, €25 face value, has been minted using silver and colored niobium, giving this set of coins a unique characteristic, since they have different color variations every year.
With the exception of the 2004 Vienna Philharmonic coin and the recently introduced 2008 silver €1.25 Vienna Philharmonic, there is no variation in the number of issues when sorted by face value, from €5 to €100 there is a similar number of issues every year.
[edit] Vienna Philharmonic Coin
A unique piece in the Austrian collection is the Vienna Philharmonic coin. This coin is struck in pure gold, 999.9 fine (24 carats). It is issued every year, in four different face values, sizes and weights. It is used as an investment product (bullion coin), although it finishes almost always in hands of collectors. According to the World Gold Council, was the best selling gold coin in 1992, 1995 and 1996 world wide.
Since 1st February 2008, this coin is being minted in Silver as well. Both side of the coin features as on the Vienna Philharmonic pure gold coin. Its face value of „1,50 Euro“ gives the silver piece its coin character, but is not relevant for the actual market value of the coin.
[edit] Summary
| Year | Issues | By metal | By face value | |||||||||||
| Gold | Silver | Others | €100,000 | €100 | €50 | €25 | €20 | €10 | €5 | €1.50 | ||||
| 2002 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| 2003 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| 2004 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |||
| 2005 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 2006 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 2007 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 2008 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Total | 80 | 34 | 40 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 13 | 1 | ||
[edit] Belgium
| (Dutch) Koninkrijk België (French) Royaume de Belgique (German) Königreich Belgien Kingdom of Belgium
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Belgium joined the eurozone in 2002, and since then they have been minting collectors' coins. In the first two years, there were not that many coins being minted, only 2 issues per year. Since 2004, a gradual increase of their mints has been seen, with a record of six coins minted in 2007.
The Belgian €2 commemorative coins are so far the only coins minted by the Royal Belgian Mint using other materials than gold and silver. Also these coins are the only Belgian bi-metal commemorative coins (not to be confused with the normal Belgian euro coins intended for circulation). Any other collectors' coins has been minted in silver and gold only, they have not used any other materials and they have not minted any other bimetal coins.
They also mint the collectors' coins issues in very low quantities; some of their coins disappear from the market in a few weeks post release. Typically the majority of the coins minted have a face value of €100 or €10. In the recent years coins with face value €50, €20 and €12.5 has been also minted.
[edit] Summary
| Year | Issues | By metal | By face value | ||||||||
| Gold | Silver | Others | €100 | €50 | €20 | €12.5 | €10 | ||||
| 2002 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 2003 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 2004 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| 2005 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| 2006 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 2007 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 2008 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 25 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | ||
[edit] Finland
| Finland
Finland
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- See also: commemorative coins of Finland
Finland joined the eurozone in 2002, and they continued their tradition of minting collectors' coins. They do not mint too many coins per year; only 3 to 4 coins. The record was reached in 2005 with 5 coins minted.
Finland, like no other country in the union, has a tendency to use mainly silver in their collectors' coin issues and a very distinctive way of alternating other materials, like Gold, Nickel-Copper, Nordic Gold ... etc. They have minted more bimetal collectors' coins than gold coins. That is the main reason why the vast majority of the Finish coins have a low face value, with almost 70% of their issues having a face value of €10 or €5. As a result, the Finish gold coins have a really high value in the market because they are fairly difficult to find.
[edit] Summary
| Year | Issues | By metal | By face value | ||||||||
| Gold | Silver | Others | €100 | €50 | €20 | €10 | €5 | ||||
| 2002 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| 2003 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| 2004 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| 2005 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 2006 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| 2007 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 2008 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Total | 24 | 4 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 5 | ||
[edit] France
- See also: commemorative coins of France
[edit] Germany
- See also: Commemorative coins of Germany
| Germany
Federal Republic of Germany
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[edit] 2002 coinage
| Topic | Face Value | Date | Mintage |
|---|---|---|---|
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Introduction of the euro |
€100 |
09.05.2002 |
100,000 |
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Introduction of the euro |
€200 |
09.05.2002 |
100,000 |
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Introduction of the euro |
€10 |
23.01.2002 |
2,000,000 |
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100th anniversary of the U-Bahn |
€10 |
14.02.2002 |
2,000,000 |
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Documenta exhibition, Kassel |
€10 |
02.05.2002 |
2,000,000 |
[edit] Greece
[edit] Ireland
| Éire
Ireland
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- See also: Commemorative coins of Ireland
Ireland joined the eurozone in 2002, however they did not mint any collectors' coins until 2003. Ireland has kept their issues to the very minimum with one or two coins per year. The records was reached in 2007, when only three coins where issued.
The vast majority of the Irish coins are made of silver, only since 2006 Irish euro collectors' coins have been seen in gold. In 2003, a very special coin was issued, the only one with a face value of €5 minted so far, and the only one made of two colors (not to be confused with bimetal coins), using alloys of other materials. This coins was issued commemorating the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games hosted in Ireland; it was the biggest mint ever with 60,000 coins released.
In general, Ireland mint coins with very low face value, but because of the rarity of their gold coins, they are quoted in the market at very high values.
[edit] Summary
| Year | Issues | By metal | By face value | ||||||||
| Gold | Silver | Others | €20 | €15 | €10 | €5 | |||||
| 2002 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2003 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 2004 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| 2005 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| 2006 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 2007 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 2008 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 11 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |||
[edit] Italy
[edit] Luxembourg
[edit] Monaco
[edit] Netherlands
[edit] Portugal
[edit] San Marino
[edit] Slovenia
| Republika Slovenija
Republic of Slovenia
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Slovenia joined the Eurozone in January 1, 2007. Although they did not mint any collectors' coin in 2007, in such a short time they already built a small collection, with face value ranging from €3 to €100. Is right here, in the face value, where the uniqueness of the Slovenian coins can be found. They have so far €3, €30 and €100 coins; using other materials, silver and gold for each of those coins.
Since the coins are fairly new, they can be easily obtained in the market at a lower value compared to the coins of other countries in the eurozone, particularly those difficult coins to find of 2002 or 2003.
[edit] Summary
| Year | Issues | By metal | By face value | ||||||||
| Gold | Silver | Others | €100 | €30 | €3 | ||||||
| 2008 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||
[edit] Spain
- See also: commemorative coins of Spain
[edit] Vatican
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
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