Euro History and Euro Mints

[JeanPar]

Summary of the History

In 1929 the German politician Gustav Stresemann asked the League of Nations "Where are the European currency and the European stamp that we need?"
A number of weeks later it was 'Black Friday', the international economic crisis began.
After the Second World War the world changed. The United Nations was set up in 1945.
In Europe, Robert Schuman (French Foreign Minister) presented a proposal on the creation of an organised Europe, indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations.
This proposal. know as the 'Schuman declaration' is considered to the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union. (The 9th of May has become a European Symbol : Europe Day).
 
On 18 April 1951 the establishment of the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) was a fact.
The preamble to the ECSC Treaty, comprising five short paragraphs, contains the whole philosophy, which was to be the 'leitmotif' of the promoters of European construction. 'World peace', 'practical achievements', 'real solidarity', 'merging of essential interests', 'community', 'destiny henceforward shared': these are all key words which are the embryonic form of both the spirit and the Community method and still today retain their rallying potential.
Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in Paris on 18 April 1951. It was concluded for a period of fifty years and, having entered into force on 23 July 1952, is due to expire on 23 July 2002.

On 1 January 1958 the EEC (European Economic Community) was founded. ("Treaties of Rome", signed in March 1957)
The establishment of the EEC and the creation of the Common Market had two objectives. The first was to transform the conditions of trade and manufacture on the territory of the Community. The second, more political, saw the EEC as a contribution towards the functional construction of a political Europe and constituted a step towards the closer unification of Europe.
The Rome Treaty laid down only minor provisions for monetary cooperation. The six founding Member States of the Community were participants in the Bretton Woods international monetary system, which was characterised by fixed exchange rates and possibilities of adjustment. The creation of a parallel system was unnecessary. A general floating of the currencies followed the demise of the Bretton Woods system, confirmed by the ending of the dollar?s convertibility into gold on 15 August 1971. With the oil crisis of the early 70s, the European currencies came under even greater pressure.

Already in 1969, when big monetary problems threatened, arose within the EEC a plan for an economic monetary union (EMU)
A high-level group chaired by Pierre Werner, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, was given the task of drawing up a report on how this goal might be reached by 1980.
The Werner group submitted its final report in October 1970. It envisaged the achievement of full economic and monetary union within ten years according to a three-stage plan. The ultimate goal was to achieve full liberalisation of capital movements, the irrevocable fixing of parities and even the replacement of national currencies with a single currency.
The collapse of the Bretton Woods system and the decision of the US Government to float the dollar in August 1971 produced a wave of instability on foreign exchanges, which called into serious question the parities between the European currencies. The EMU project was brought to an abrupt halt

Efforts to establish an area of monetary stability were renewed in March 1979, at the instigation of France and Germany, with the creation of the European Monetary System (EMS), based on the concept of fixed, but adjustable exchange rates. Over a ten-year period, the EMS did much to reduce exchange-rate variability: the flexibility of the system combined with the political resolve to bring about economic convergence, achieved sustainable currency stability.

In June 1988 the Hanover European Council set up a committee to study economic and monetary union under the chairmanship of Jacques Delors, the then President of the European Commission.
On the basis of the Delors report, the Madrid European Council decided in June 1989 to launch the first stage of EMU: full liberalisation of capital movements by 1 July 1990.
Approved by the European Council of December 1991, the amendments proposed by the intergovernmental conference were incorporated in the 'treaty of European Union' signed at Maastricht on 7 February 1992.
The Treaty provides for economic and monetary union to be introduced by the end of the century in three successive stages according to a precise timetable.
The first stage began on 1 July 1990. The Council was to assess the progress made with regard to economic and monetary converge while Member States were to adopt appropriate measures to comply with certain prohibitions laid down by the Treaty. No formal decision was needed for transition to the second stage, which took place on 1 January 1994. Member States were to make significant progress towards economic policy convergence. Transition to the third stage, since it marked the start of EMU, was subject to the achievement of a high degree of durable convergence measured against a number of objective criteria  laid down by the Treaty.

In accordance with the Treaty of Maastricht the European Council in Brussels decided on 2 May 1988, following the recommendation of the Commission and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council ("Ecofin") and Parliament's opinion, that 11 countries - Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain - would take part in the third stage of EMU.
On the 1st January 1999 the 11 countries chosen joined the European Monetary Union. Greece has subsequently applied for membership and was admitted. It officially joined the EMU on 1 January 2001.

Source: EU

"Europe was not built, and we had war" (Robert Schuman declaration of 9 May 1950)

[JeanPar]

Austria - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 2002
Website: http://www.muenzeoesterreich.at (de, en)
News also at: https://plus.google.com/112713730987959810100

Belgium - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 1999
Website: http://www.royalmint.be
or http://www.europemint.eu (nl, fr, en)
Mint magazine: http://europemint.eu/documents/muntinfo.html

Cyprus - Euro Area member since 2008, earliest euro coins dated 2008
Website: http://www.centralbank.gov.cy/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=8084 (gr, en)
Web store: http://eshop.centralbank.gov.cy (gr, en)
Due to distribution agreements, certain numismatic products can only be purchased from the central bank if you have a Cyprus address.

Estonia - Euro Area member since 2011, earliest euro coins dated 2011
Central Bank website: http://www.eestipank.ee/en/cash (ee, en)
Omniva Eesti Post website: https://www.omniva.ee/private/post/philately_and_numismatics#numismatics (ee, en, ru)
(Eesti Pank has information about the coins/sets; for sales they refer to the web store of the postal service.)

Finland - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 1999
Website: http://www.suomenrahapaja.fi/eng/ (fi, en, sv)

France - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 1999
Website: http://www.monnaiedeparis.fr or http://www.monnaiedeparis.com (fr, en)
News also at: https://www.facebook.com/monnaiedeparis

Germany - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 2002
The German mints do not sell coins directly; contact or buy from the German Numismatic Office instead:
Website: https://www.deutsche-sammlermuenzen.de (de)

Greece - Euro Area member since 2001, earliest euro coins dated 2002
Website: http://www.bankofgreece.gr/Pages/en/Euro/Notes-coins/Collectors/default.aspx (en, gr)

Ireland / Eire - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 2002
Website: http://www.centralbank.ie > "Payments Systems & Currency" (English, parts in Irish)

Italy - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 2002
Website: http://www.zecca.ipzs.it (it)

Latvia - Euro Area member since 2014, earliest euro coins dated 2014
Central bank (Latvijas Banka) website: http://www.bank.lv (lv, en)
Euro campaign website: http://www.eiro.lv (lv, en, ru)

Lithuania - Euro Area member since 2015, earliest euro coins dated 2015
Central bank (Lietuvos Bankas) website: http://www.lb.lt (lt, en)
Lithuanian Mint website: http://kalykla.lt (lt, en, ru)

Luxembourg - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 2002
Website: http://www.bcl.lu
Web store: https://eshop.bcl.lu/ (fr, en, de)

Malta - Euro Area member since 2008, earliest euro coins dated 2008
Website: http://www.centralbankmalta.org/numismatic-issues (mt, en)

Netherlands - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 1999
Website: http://www.knm.nl
News also at: https://www.facebook.com/KoninklijkeNederlandseMunt
The KNM (Royal Dutch Mint) does not deliver to addresses outside the European Union.

Portugal - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 2002
Website: http://www.incm.pt (pt, en)
Web store: http://www.incm.pt/site/loja?type=produto_listar&tipo=02

Slovakia - Euro Area member since 2009, earliest euro coins dated 2009
Website: http://www.mint.sk (also in English and German)

Slovenia - Euro Area member since 2007, earliest euro coins dated 2007
Website: http://www.bsi.si/en/banknotes-and-coins.asp?MapaId=67 (si, en)
The central bank (BSI) authorized Dezelna Banka Slovenije to sell "numismatic coins":
Website: http://www.dbs.si/en/numismatics.asp?MapaID=112

Spain - Euro Area member since 1999, earliest euro coins dated 1999
Website: http://www.fnmt.es
Web store (Spanish/English) https://tienda.fnmt.es


Andorra - Monetary Agreement with the EU, earliest euro coins dated 2014
Goverment Information Site: http://euros.ad (in Catalan)
Numismatic Office ("Andorra Mint"): http://www.andorra-euro.com (in Catalan)

Monaco - Monetary Agreement with the EU, earliest euro coins dated 2001
Contact by mail: Musée des Timbres et des Monnaies,
Tel. +377 9315 4150 - Fax +377 9315 4145
E-Mail: musee_des_timbres@gouv.mc or mtm@gouv.mc
11 Terrasses de Fontvieille, 98000 Monaco
Website: http://www.gouv.mc (fr, en)

San Marino - Monetary Agreement with the EU, earliest euro coins dated 2002
Website: http://www.aasfn.sm (it, en)

Vatican - Monetary Agreement with the EU, earliest euro coins dated 2002
UFN - Numismatic Office (it, fr, en, de, es):
http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/it/servizi/ufficio-filatelico-e-numismatico.html
Ufficio Filatelico e Numismatico
00120 Città del Vaticano
Vatican City State
Tel. +3906 6988 3414

Christian

[chrisild]

Note that this topic, about the historical background of the common currency and about the mints and numismatic offices in the euro area, is sticky and locked. The discussion about mint websites, sale conditions, and so on, can be found here:

Addresses of Euro Mints - Discussion
http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,3888.0.html
That is also where everybody can post new information and corrections. Please consider this to be a work in progress ...

By the way - in some cases above (Reply #1) you will see a note saying "earliest euro coins dated 1999". This simply refers to the dates on the coins; the euro and cent coins, even the ones dated 1999 or 2000 for example, were not available to the general public until December 2001, and were not legal tender until 1-Jan-2002. Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican are not euro area member states but have been part of "Euroland" since the beginning, due to monetary agreements with the European Union.

Christian

[ART]

For many years I studied the history of European integration , including the history of the monetary union, so I would suggest some corrections and extensions to JeanPar on the topic Euro History and Mints.
I quote him directly to comment:


In Europe, Robert Schuman (French Foreign Minister) presented a proposal on the creation of an organised Europe, indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations.
This proposal. know as the 'Schuman declaration' is considered to the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union. (The 9th of May has become a European Symbol : Europe Day).
 
On 18 April 1951 the establishment of the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) was a fact.
The preamble to the ECSC Treaty, comprising five short paragraphs, contains the whole philosophy, which was to be the 'leitmotif' of the promoters of European construction. 'World peace', 'practical achievements', 'real solidarity', 'merging of essential interests', 'community', 'destiny henceforward shared': these are all key words which are the embryonic form of both the spirit and the Community method and still today retain their rallying potential.

It would be important to specify two very essential things to understand the spirit of European integration.
First, although the Schuman declaration was presented on behalf of Robert Schuman its creator was Jean Monnet, true "founding father" who was active for many years for the cause of European unity, who developed it with some collaborators.
Second, and even more important, the Declaration did not only speak about generic 'World peace', 'practical achievements', 'real solidarity', 'merging of essential interests', 'community', 'destiny henceforward shared' but It indicates clearly that the ultimate goal of the process is the formation of a genuine European federation too.


The Rome Treaty laid down only minor provisions for monetary cooperation. The six founding Member States of the Community were participants in the Bretton Woods international monetary system, which was characterised by fixed exchange rates and possibilities of adjustment. The creation of a parallel system was unnecessary.

Not 100 % accurate, because a sort of "parallel system" had already been established on September 1950 with the foundation of the EPU (European Payments Union) and the simultaneous creation of the EUA (European Unit of Account) , originally proposed with the name " Epunit ", scriptural currency with a gold parity of 0.888671 grams, equal to that of US dollar.


The Werner group submitted its final report in October 1970.

And this is a very important document:
http://ec.europa.eu/archives/emu_history/documentation/chapter5/19701008en72realisationbystage.pdf


Efforts to establish an area of monetary stability were renewed in March 1979, at the instigation of France and Germany, with the creation of the European Monetary System (EMS), based on the concept of fixed, but adjustable exchange rates.

True, but it is important to specify how we got that system.
On April 1972 was born the "Monetary Snake" , an agreement for the adjustment of exchange rates between Belgium, France , Germany , Italy and the Netherlands and on October the Paris European Council confirmed the objective of monetary union. On March 1975 the EUA was structured as a basket of fixed quantities of the currencies of the nine states of EEC.
This was the base for the establishment of the ECU: the value and composition were initially the same as the EUA and only on January 1981 the ECU replaced it as unit of account in Community budgets.



That's all, I hope it's helpful to understand in a better way those historical events.