Before the introduction of the euro, the current eurozone members issued their own individual national coinage, most of which featured mint marks, privy marks and/or mint master marks. These marks have been continued as a part of the national designs of the euro coins, as well. This article serves to list the information about the various types of identifying marks on euro coins, including engraver and designer initials and the unique edge inscriptions found on the €2 coins.
Date stamps on euro coins
Since the euro was officially introduced in 1999, most of the EMU member countries began producing their coins ahead of the 2002 introduction date. There is individual national legislation in place which governs the mintage of coins issued from each country. These coinage acts regulate the coin production parameters for each country.
Mintage date
The coinage acts of countries with a mintage date stipulation specify that the year the coin is minted, regardless of when the coins are issued, should appear on each coin. Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands and Spain have mintage date stipulations.
Issue date
The coinage acts of countries with an issue date stipulation specify that the year the coin is issued, regardless of when the coins are minted, should appear on each coin. Austria, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, San Marino and the Vatican City have issue date stipulations.
Conclusion
Since the euro was first issued in 2002, the countries which have an issue date stipulation are all dated 2002 onward, even though these coins were minted in previous years to prepare for the adoption of the euro. As a result, there are no euro coins dated 1999, 2000 and 2001 issued from countries with an issue date stipulation.
Luxembourg has no domestic mint, so their coins are minted elsewhere. Regardless of the mintage location of these coins, the issue date stipulation in their coinage act must be followed by whichever country mints their coins and the date stamp is therefore applied accordingly.
Since Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City do not have their own coinage acts, the date stamp is applied in accordance with the coinage act of whichever country mints these coins. France produces the euro coins for Monaco and follows the mintage date stipulation; it began minting Monégasque euro coins only in 2001, since the mintage quantities were so low. Sammarinese and Vatican euro coins are minted in Italy and follow the issue date stipulation.
National identifying marks of euro coins
As per a recommendation defined by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union,[1] the national designs of each member's euro coin should contain a national identification in the form of spelling or abbreviation of the country's name. Of the fifteen members of the Eurozone at the time these recommendations were made, five national designs—those of Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany and Greece—did not meet the criteria outlined. Of these five, two (Finland in 2007 and Belgium in 2008) have changed or amended their design to follow these recommendations, and the other three are expected to follow suit in the coming years.
National identifying marks on euro coins by country
BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND (Federal Republic of Germany in German) (only on commemorative €2 issues until 2009 and commemorative €2 commonly issued coins until 2015)
Abbreviation
D (only on commemorative €2 issues since 2010 (except commemorative €2 commonly issued coins from 2012 and 2015), not to be confused with Munich mint mark "D" on standard-issue designs of all denominations)
Symbol
Depiction of the Bundesadler (Federal Eagle) (only on standard-issue €1 and €2 designs)
Prior to 2008, Belgian mark had only been used on commemorative issues. Since 2008, the mark is used on both standard issue and commemorative issue coins.
Belgium (2018–present)
Utrecht, Netherlands
Mercury's wand, the logo of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (Royal Dutch Mint)
while B, C, E and H used to be mint locations that had been closed prior to the introduction of the euro.
Greece (2002)
Madrid, Spain Pessac, France Vantaa, Finland Athens
E (20c), F (1c, 2c, 5c, 10c and 50c), S[7] (€1 and €2)
Letters
E for Spain (España), F for France, S for Finland (Suomi). The initial supply of Greek euro coins were produced at three locations, in addition to the Athens mint, due to their late entry into the European Monetary Union (EMU) just before the introduction date on 1 January 2002; only certain denominations of Greek coins with the date stamp of "2002" have these mint marks. Greek euro coins dated 2002 without these mint marks were produced in Athens, Greece. All Greek euro coins bear the standard Greek mint mark symbol of the Athens mint.
Poland is not yet part of the Eurozone. When the euro is introduced, this is the mintmark which will be used. The Polish Mint logo is the letter M on top of the letter W and comes from Mennica Warszawa or Warsaw Mint
Portugal (2007–present)
Lisbon
INCM
Imprensa Nacional – Casa de Moeda (National Currency – Mint House) abbreviation
Portugal (2020–present)
Lisbon
CASA DA MOEDA
Mint House text
This mark is only been used on commemorative issues.
Mercury's wand, the logo of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (Royal Dutch Mint)
Spain
Madrid
Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (National Factory of Currency and Stamps) logo
Vatican
Rome, Italy
R
Letter
Mint master marks and privy marks
Mint master marks or privy marks are symbols representing directors, chief engravers or chief executive officers of mints.
Belgium
The directors of the Monnaie Royale de Belgique/Koninklijke Munt van België (Royal Belgian Mint) in Brussels uses mint master's marks on all €2 commemorative coins and on all Belgian euro coins with a datestamp from 2008 onwards minted at this location.
The director of the Rahapaja Oy (Mint of Finland, LTD.) mint in Helsinki-Vantaa used a mint master's mark on Finnish euro coins minted at this location with the date stamp between 1999 and 2006.
Luxembourg euro coins dated 2002 were minted in the Netherlands in 2000 and thus bear the mint master mark of E. J. van Schauwenburg, Temporary Director of the Utrecht Mint during the year of coin production. The Coinage Act of Luxembourg stipulates that national coins cannot have a date stamp prior to the year of issue. Therefore, Luxembourg euro coins bear the mint master mark of the Temporary Director at the time of minting, despite the date on the coins.
Coins dated 2003–2004 bear the mint master mark of Maarten Brouwer, Director of the Utrecht Mint from 2003–2015.
Luxembourgian euro coins dated 2005–2006 were produced at Rahapaja Oy (Mint of Finland), in Helsinki-Vantaa, Finland. Since the mint director does not affix a mint master mark to coins in production at that location, these coins do not bear a mint master mark but an S[7] and the logo of the 'Suomen Rahapaja' instead.
Luxembourg euro coins dated 2007-2008 were produced at Monnaie de Paris, in Pessac, France and bear the mint master mark of Hubert Larivière, Director of the Paris Mint.
As of 2009, coins are again minted at the Royal Dutch Mint in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Until 2015 it was again the mint master mark of Maarten Brouwer. From 2016-2017 Kees Bruinsma was the Temporary Director of the Utrecht Mint.
Monegasque euro coins are produced by Monnaie de Paris, in Pessac, France beginning in 2001 and thus bear the mint master mark of Gérard Buquoy, Serge Levet, Hubert Larivière and Yves Sampo Directors of the Mint from 2001–2002, 2003, 2004–2010 and 2011–present respectively.
The mint masters of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (Royal Dutch Mint) in Utrecht use mint master's marks on all Dutch euro coins minted at this location.[17]
Slovenian euro coins dated 2008 were produced at Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and bear the mint master mark of Maarten Brouwer, director of the Royal Dutch Mint from 2003 until 2015.
Designer, sculptor and engraver initials on euro coins
Each country had the opportunity to design its own national side of the euro coin. Most coins bear the initials or the name of the designer somewhere in the national design. For example, all eight motives of the common reverse sides of the euro coins bear the stylised initials "LL" for Luc Luycx.
Designer, sculptor and engraver initials on standard euro coins
Inscriptions of initials on standard issue euro coins by country
With each member of the Eurozone comes a set of individual coin designs. Included in the individuality of the national obverse face of the euro coins, whose design is left to the member states, is the edge of the €2 coin. Each member was allowed to design a unique inscription that would appear on the €2 coin's edge. Some of these edge inscriptions are carried over from the coins of the yielded currencies in circulation prior to the introduction of the euro.
Standard issue €2 edge inscriptions
Standard €2 edge inscriptions by country
Country
Edge inscription
Description
Austria
The sequence "2 EURO ★★★" repeated four times alternately upright and inverted.
Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain
The sequence "2 ★ ★" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted.
Croatia
"O LIJEPA O DRAGA O SLATKA SLOBODO" ("Oh beautiful, oh dear, oh sweet freedom" in Croatian, from Dubravka).
Cyprus
The sequence "2 ΕΥΡΩ 2 EURO" repeated twice (2 EURO in Greek and Turkish).
Estonia
"EESTI ○" (ESTONIA in Estonian) upright and inverted.
Finland
"SUOMI FINLAND" (FINLAND in both Finnish and Swedish, the two official languages in Finland), followed by three lion's heads.
Germany
"EINIGKEIT UND RECHT UND FREIHEIT" (UNITY AND JUSTICE AND FREEDOM in German), Germany's national motto and the beginning of Germany's national anthem, followed by the Federal Eagle.
Greece
"ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ ★" (ELLINIKI DHIMOKRATIA ★: "HELLENIC REPUBLIC" in Greek).
Italy, San Marino, Vatican
The sequence "2 ★" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted.
Generally the edge inscription of a €2 commemorative coin does not change from the standard issue counterpart. There are a few exceptions.
Commemorative €2 edge inscriptions by issue date
Year and Country
Edge inscription
Description
Finland (2005)
"YK 1945–2005 FN" ("UN 1945–2005 UN" in Finnish and Swedish, the official languages of Finland) followed by three lion's heads. "YK" stands for Yhdistyneet Kansakunnat and "FN" for Förenta Nationerna. Issued to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and Finland's 50 year membership in the UN.[23]
Finland (2007)
"ROMFÖRDRAGET 50 ÅR EUROPA" ("TREATY OF ROME 50 YEARS EUROPE" in Swedish, one of the official languages of Finland. The same words in Finnish - "ROOMAN SOPIMUS 50 V EUROOPPA" - appear on the face of this coin). Issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome.[24]
In 2008, a European Commission's recommendation was approved in which the following was stated: "The legend engraved on the edge of the commemorative euro coins intended for circulation must be the same as that on the normal euro coins intended for circulation."[25] In 2012, a European Regulation was approved in which, with a binding nature, the previous restriction was specified.[26]
^There are no Monegasque coins issued into general circulation with this mint master mark on them. Coins minted from 2004–2006 were minted in proof quality for collector sets only and none were produced in 2007.
^The span between 1999 and 2003 marks the first time in Dutch currency history where five different mint master's marks were used in consecutive years.
^ abcdeThe image has been rotated 90 degrees clockwise for presentation purposes.
^In 1898, Oscar Roty created the famous character of La Semeuse (the Sower) for the silver coins of the 3rd Republic. The 'Sower' is represented on the 10, 20 and 50 cent French euro coins. The original design of that character is attributed to him in this inscription.
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