Other new 2 € commems planned for 2009.

[a3v1]

Apart from the "10 Years of the Euro" commems discussed in another thread, the following 2 euro commems are planned for 2009 so far:
Finland: 200^th Anniversary of the Finnish Liberation War 1808-1809.
Germany: Provincial series: Saarland, Ludwigskirche Saarbrücken.
Luxembourg: 90^th Anniversary of Grandduchess Charlotte's accession to the throne.
Portugal: 2nd Lusophonic (= Portuguese speaking) Games.
San Marino: European year of Creativity and Innovation.
Slovakia: 20^th Anniversary of the "Velvet" Revolution.
Vatican City: International Year of Astronomy.
All coins (except for those of San Marino and Vatican City) are intended for general circulation.
Regards,
a3v1

[Figleaf]

Not too bad, so far. Excluding the non-circulating issue, there's only one "themed" commemorative planned (Germany), Luxembourg is doubtful and the rest has something real to commemorate. I hope someone (France?) will think of commemorating Blériot's cross-channel flight.

Peter

[chrisild]

As long as there is a limit of precisely one commem per year (plus common pieces issued by all euro area member states), you won't see anything else from Germany until the series ends in 2021 ... (By the way, the series commemorates German states - or Länder if you prefer the German term. Those are not provinces.) The only ways out of this are
* a "merger" of two or more states that have not been honored yet, so that the series ends a little earlier,
* or a modification of the current rules, so that more than one can be issued per year. Could be a little much as far as the total annual number of €2 issues is concerned. Then again, some euro countries never or hardly ever issue €2 coins ...

Christian

[a3v1]

I hope someone (France?) will think of commemorating Blériot's cross-channel flight.

@ Peter,
France most probably will commemorate Louis Blériot and his cross-channel flight. But it is to be expected that they will do so with a multitude of silver and gold collector's coins as these are way more profitable.
@ Christian,
I an well aware that the German 2 € commems are part of the "Bundesländer" series but since this is an English-speaking forum I decided to use a word more understandable to those not being familar with the German situation (a confederation) or the German language.
Regards,
a3v1 

[chrisild]

Maybe I hang around with Americans too much but I think that for German Länder, "states" is much more common and politically appropriate than "provinces". Anyway, the series will continue for another dozen years - and is unlikely to be "interrupted". With the gold €100 coins dedicated to world cultural heritage sites, that was easy to do (for the FIFA world cup) since they don't follow any particular order. Now a €2 commem basically honors the state that has the Bundesrat presidency in the year of issue ...

Christian (patiently waiting for the North Rhine Westphalia "twoer" to be issued in 2011)

[Figleaf]

AFAIK, the Romans called their conquered territories "provinces". This, of course, has not stopped the Dutch from calling the constituent parts of their country provinces. The reason may be that the words "land" (territory or state) and "staat" (state or government or national, when used as an adverb) were already taken and we didn't have enough counts for all the counties, which in turn never stopped the Americans from having plenty of counties within each state. In short, confusion reigns. Galapagos and successors, true lovers of confusion, will approve.

Peter

[poccio1]

http://eurocollezione.altervista.org/_2_euro_comm_Emissioni_2009.htm

AUSTRIA
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: january
Mintage: 5.000.000 = UNC 4.910.000 - BU 75.000 - PR 15.000

BELGIUM
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 5.000.000

CYPRUS
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 1.000.000

FINLAND
1) 10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 2.000.000
2) 200th Anniversary of the Finnish Liberation War
Date of Issue: November
Mintage: 2.000.000

FRANCE
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 10.030.000 = UNC 10.000.000 – BU 20.000 – PR 10.000

GERMANY
1) 10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 31.630.000 = UNC 30.000.000 (A 6.000.000 – D 6.300.000 – F 7.200.000 – G 4.200.000 – J 6.300.000) - BU 400.000 (A-D-F-G-J 80.000 x 5) – PR 600.630 (A 120.150 – D 120.120 – F 120.120 – G 120.120 – J 120.120)
2) Bundesländer Series: Saarland - Ludwigskirche Saarbrücken
Date of Issue: 6 February
Mintage: 30.000.000

GREECE
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 5.000.000

IRELAND
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 5.000.000

ITALY
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 2.500.000

LUXEMBOURG
1) 10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 1.000.000
2) 90th anniversary of Grand Duchess Charlotte's accession to the throne
Date of Issue: February
Mintage: 1.000.000

MALTA
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 700.000

NETHERLANDS
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 5.000.000

PORTUGAL
1) 10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 1.000.000
2) Lusophony Games
Date of Issue: July
Mintage: 1.285.000 = UNC 1.250.000 - BU 20.000 - PR 15.000

SAN MARINO
European Year of Creativity and Innovation
Date of Issue: September
Mintage: ?

SLOVAKIA
1) 10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 2.500.000
2) 20th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution
Date of Issue: 17 November
Mintage: 1.000.000

SLOVENIA
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 1.000.000

SPAIN
10th Anniversary of the Euro Introduction
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: 8.000.000

VATICAN CITY
International Year of Astronomy
Date of Issue: ?
Mintage: ?

[BC Numismatics]

It sounds like the Cypriot & Maltese commemorative 2 Euro coins will end up being pretty difficult to find.

Aidan.

[a3v1]

It sounds like the Cypriot & Maltese commemorative 2 Euro coins will end up being pretty difficult to find.

@ Aidan,
Perhaps on your end of the world. Here in Europe it will be much easier; they may even show up in general circulation beyond the countries of issue.
Regards,
a3v1

[chrisild]

The official "Date of Issue" for all those Ten Years Euro/EMU coins is 1 January. Of course we will not really have them in our hands on New Year's Day but I suppose that a couple of days later that will change. Maybe the distribution takes a little longer in some countries, so the "Date of Availability" will vary ...

Also, I have no idea why the pieces from Cyprus and Malta should be more difficult to find than those from, say, Luxembourg or Portugal. Mintages are about the same - and sure, LU is geographically in a less insular position than CY or MT. But for collectors none of these should be terribly difficult to get. And I think that around here (DE near BE/NL) it is more likely to come across the coin from Luxembourg than that from Finland.

However, I am still undecided ... do I really want more than a dozen euro/stickman pieces?
(Off to ponder)

Christian

[BC Numismatics]

Christian,
  Have you ever tried to buy coins from either Cyprus or Malta? The postage from these 2 countries is an absolute rip-off.That is why the commemoratives from both countries will be extremely difficult to get.

Shortly after the change over to the Euro,I got in touch with someone in Malta to get a quote for the basic set of coins taken from circulation.They wanted something like 17 or 20 Euros for those coins.That was enough to put me off.

Eventually,I got the Maltese Euro coins a few weeks later,& the Cypriot Euro coins only last week.

Aidan.

[a3v1]

Eventually,I got the Maltese Euro coins a few weeks later,& the Cypriot Euro coins only last week.

@ Aidan,
A great many European coin dealers have been offering both sets since the beginning of 2008 at really fair prices. For us, Europeans, there is no need at all for trying to buy these coins in Cyprus or Malta (and by doing so much more has to be paid!)
Regards,
a3v1

[Miguel.mateo]

Agree with a3v1, a couple of good dealers in France, Italy or Germany would do to get any coin you need at fair prices, including shipping all the way to Japan like in my case

Miguel

[chrisild]

I've found out why coins are so expensive to import from Cyprus.You've actually got to fill in an application form & actually post it off to the Central Bank of Cyprus in Nicosia.If your application is successful,you get to buy them,plus there is a commission,plus taxes on top.

Don't know what you found out there, but you should not make the order procedure more complicated than it is. All the info that you need is here: http://www.centralbank.gov.cy/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=6459 (the default language is Greek, so you may have to click on "English")
Now click on the icon next to "Announcement". Do you see the part where it says "Overseas orders should be sent: by post to (...) by fax to (...) by e-mail to (...)? That means you can send the order form via postal mail, fax or e-mail.

The price list is available there as well. For customers outside Cyprus, one piece costs €50 (in the EU) or €45 (outside the EU) if you pay cash; I would not do that. The price is a little lower if you simply transfer the money, and a bit higher if you use this "banker's draft" payment. Now the price of the €2 commemorative coin will surely be lower, but it does not really make much sense to order directly from the central bank.

Christian

[BC Numismatics]

Christian,
  I wonder how the dealers outside Cyprus will be able to offer the coin at a reasonable price,considering that charging 25 times the face value is just plain ridiculous.The Central Bank of Cyprus shouldn't be calling the 2009 E.M.U. commemorative 2 Euros a coin,as seen as it won't be either available at face value,or found in circulation.To me,it would have to be classed as a medal-coin.

I don't know what action the European Central Bank will take,if any,to remind the Central Bank of Cyprus that its processes about its marketing to the numismatic trade is unbelievably full of nothing but red tape.I always thought that the E.U. were against red tape,not adding more red tape to put off the numismatic trade.

What does everyone else here think?

Aidan.