The Euro (plural: Euros) was introduced on January, 1st 1999, replacing the former ECU (European Currency Unit) at a ratio of 1:1. Euro coins and banknotes entered circulation on January 1, 2002. The currency is subdivided into 100 cents or euro-cents.

Available in these Countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Mayotte, Vatican City, Monaco, San Marino, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Andorra, Kosovo, Montenegro, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Mayotte, Vatican City, Monaco, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and San Marino

Unit Name: Euro

Currency Sign: €

Currency ISO Code: EUR

Currency Name: Euro

Coins: the coins now used are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, 1 and 2 euro

Banknotes: the banknotes now used are 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euro

Central Bank: European Central Bank

A BRIEF HISTORY

The creation of Euro was established in the Maastricht Treaty (1992). To participate in the currency, the member states had to meet some strict criteria as a debt ratio of less than 60% of their gross domestic product (GDP), interest rates close to EU average and a budget deficit of less than 3%. Exemptions were granted to United Kingdom and Denmark.
The name “Euro” was created by Belgian Germain Pirlot in 1995 and officially adopted in Madrid on December, 16th 1995.


All conversions between the national currencies and Euro were carried out by using the process of triangulation via Euro, so every member state established their own conversion rate.
The currency was officially introduced at midnight on January, 1st 1999 in non-physical form at midnight on 1 January 1999, the single national currencies of Eurozone participating countries ceased to exist in different periods. Their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other, making them mere non-decimal subdivisions of the Euro.
The old currencies’ banknotes and coins still be used until new euro banknotes and coins were introduced on January, 1st 2002. The changeover period lasted about 2 months, until February, 28th 2002, even if we have to point out that the official date on which the national currencies ceased to be legal tender varied from state to state. Germany was the first nation in which the national currency (the Mark) ceased to be legal tender on December, 31st 2001. The earliest coins to become non-convertible were the Portuguese escudos on December, 31st 2002.

USAGE IN COUNTRIES

The Euro is the sole currency of 16 EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. But the enlargement of the Eurozone is constant and the Euro is the sole currency of 2 former Yugoslavian states as Montenegro and Kosovo and other European micro states (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City). Even in 5 oversea territory Euro is the official currency: Mayotte, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin.
More, the Euro is gaining international usage as trading currency in Cuba, North Korea and Siria. 23 countries and territories which do not belong to Eurozone have currencies pegged to the euro and in 2009 the African state of Zimbabwe abandoned its local currency to use major ones, including the Euro and the U.S. Dollar.

COINS AND BANKNOTES

All circulating Euro coins have a common side showing the denomination or value, and a map in the background different from state to state. So we can find about 128 different coins, excluding all that issued the commemorative ones and those issued by San Marino, Vatican City and Monaco. The coins are issued in 8 denominations:

  • 1, 2 and 5 cents (copper-colored) made of steel and copper-covered;
  • 10, 20 and 50 cents (gold-colored), made of Nordic gold;
  • 1 and 2 euros (silver-gold colored), bi-metallic.

The banknotes have common designs, created by Robert Kalina, on both sides. They are issued in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros. Each banknote has its own color and is dedicated to an artistic period of European architecture. The front of the note features windows or gateways while the back has bridges. We have to point out that some of the highest denominations (such as the 500 euros) are not issued in all countries, even if they remain legal tender throughout the Eurozone.