DE: The "German States" Series of €2 Coins

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In 2006 Germany started a series of commemorative €2 coins that honor the German states (Länder). There are 16 states, and the coins were and are issued in the order determined by which state has the Bundesrat presidency. The complete list:

2006: Schleswig-Holstein (Holstentor, Lübeck)
2007: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Schweriner Schloss)
2008: Hamburg (Michaeliskirche)
2009: Saarland (Ludwigskirche, Saarbrücken)
2010: Bremen (Rathaus und Roland)
2011: Nordrhein-Westfalen (Kölner Dom)
2012: Bayern (Schloss Neuschwanstein)
2013: Baden-Württemberg (Kloster Maulbronn)
2014: Niedersachsen (St. Michaelis, Hildesheim)
2015: Hessen (Paulskirche, Frankfurt)
2016: Sachsen (Zwinger, Dresden)
2017: Rheinland-Pfalz (Porta Nigra, Trier)
2018: Berlin (Schloss Charlottenburg)
2019: 70 Years of the Bundesrat (Additional Issue)
2020: Brandenburg (Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam)
2021: Sachsen-Anhalt (Magdeburger Dom)
2022: Thüringen (Wartburg, Eisenach)

Christian

[chrisild]

These were the first four coins. Since the images are from different sources (e.g. European Commission and German Numismatic Office), the image styles and sizes vary a little. But of course the coins all have the same size.

SH 2006 (Design: Heinz Hoyer)
MV 2007 (Design: Heinz Hoyer)
HH 2008 (Design: Erich Ott)
SL 2009 (Design: Friedrich Brenner)

Christian

[chrisild]

Starting in 2010, the country name was replaced by a mere "D", so that the circle of stars would appear as it appears on the European Flag. Germany's ISO code is "DE", but the government apparently found it more interesting to pick one character which also happens to be the Munich mintmark.

HB 2010 (Design: Bodo Broschat)
NW 2011 (Design: Heinz Hoyer)
BY 2012 (Design: Erich Ott)
BW 2013 (Design: Eugen Ruhl)

Christian

[chrisild]

And now for the future. The designs for 2014 and 2015 are already known; the others will be picked by a jury probably later this year ...

NI 2014 (Design: Erich Ott)
HE 2015 (Design: Heinz Hoyer*)
SN 2016
RP 2017

BE 2018
ST 2019
TH 2020
BB 2021

* The XY from the anonymous design competition will be replaced by HH.

Some of these coins have been discussed here before:
DE: €2 Commem Designs 2010-2012
DE: €2 Commem Designs 2013-2015

Christian

[chrisild]

With an overall mintage of about 30 million per issue, the German €2 commems do actually circulate. Usually the five mints produce the coins according to a quota system. Since Stuttgart is the biggest mint, it makes most of the Bundesländer/German States pieces: Stuttgart/F: 7.2 million, Munich/D: 6.3 million, Hamburg/J: 6.3 million, Berlin/A: 6.0 million, Karlsruhe/G: 4.2 million. But there are exceptions, e.g. Berlin made less than a million of the Hamburg and the Mecklenburg Western Pomerania coins. Some other topics that deal with the "State Twoers":

DE 2010: German States €2 "Bremen"
http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,5654.0.html
DE: €2 Commem Designs 2010-2012
http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,2752.0.html
DE: German States 2013 - Baden-Württemberg
http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,8305.0.html

Christian

[kwcoin]

Believe it or not  over the years I've got about 10-12 UNC specimens of all series from 2006- 2010 directly from brand new rolls when shopping at the local Lidl store.  Hasn't happend too often in recent years. If you are looking for a compleat set from all 5 mints ( A, D, E F & J)  it's easier to just go to the Bundesbank or order from your favorite dealer. These coins do indeed circulate and sometimes you can get UNC specimens in circulation.   

[chrisild]

Fortunately I do not care about mintmarks. If I did, the local Bundesbank branch office would not be very helpful; what I get here in Düsseldorf is from one mint only. Which mint that is, depends on -- uh, don't ask me.   Sometimes they get a second delivery a little later which may come from a different mint. In a German forum people actually make long lists of which BuBa branch office gets what mintmark. With a lot of traveling it will be possible get all five, but it may be less expensive and time consuming to swap or buy ...

Christian

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Update - The order of the next Bundesrat presidencies has changed. That order is determined by the population of the states, so that next year (1 Nov 2018 until 31 Oct 2019) it will be Schleswig-Holstein's turn again. Problem is, SH already had its coin.

In the German emuenzen.de forum, numisfreund posted a reply he got from the government, about possible changes to the coin series. And yes, there will be a change:

Next year's issue, dedicated to the state of Berlin, will be issued as planned. Then, in 2019, an additional coin will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Bundesrat. After that, the series will be continued, in a slightly different order: Brandenburg (2020), Saxony-Anhalt (2021), Thuringia (2022). The designs of the remaining four issues (2019-22) will probably be chosen next year.

Christian

[chrisild]

Images of the coins issued after 2015 can be found in the "year specific" topics. Please note that technically the Bundesrat coin (2019) is not actually part of this series. The 2020, 2021 and 2022 designs are not known yet.

Christian

[Figleaf]

Vot? Ze Dzjerman Administration Does Not Ze Know Vot Vill Zey Make In 2020? Ze End Is Near!

Peter

[chrisild]

Vell vell vell. Problem is that, as I mentioned a while ago, the government does not publish details of the design competitions any more. Used to be that, once a final design was picked, they would also show us the second etc. prize winners. Not any more - and what is also gone is the list of upcoming competitions and jury decisions.

That applies to both commemorative and collector coins. So we know about the themes of coins in advance, and once there is a winner, we learn about that. Nothing in between though ...

Edit - see my new reply #12: The Numismatic Office (VfS) now publishes the jury verdicts.

Christian

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Here are the designs of the last three German States €2 coins:

Brandenburg (2020), designed by Jordi Truxa
Saxony-Anhalt (2021), designed by Michael Otto
Thuringia (2022), designed by Olaf Stoy

More about the pieces in the federal government's press release. Interestingly, they now consider this year's Bundesrat coin to be part of the series. Well, in a way it is.

Christian

[chrisild]

If you are interested in the jury decisions regarding the last three German States coins, and in the designs that did not win, have a look at this file. PDF, about 600K, in German but with images. Note that the Thuringia coin will come in 2022 (not 2021 as the cover page text suggests).

Christian

[chrisild]

With the Numismatic Office's website being "revamped", the link above will not work any more. Use this one instead.

The next commemorative €2 coin, dedicated to the state of Saxony-Anhalt, will be issued on 26 January 2021.

[chrisild]

... and here it is. See the attached image (by Deutsche Bundesbank). Usually these coins are issued shortly before the World Money Fair, and can be had at every Bundesbank branch office. Well, this year Covid-19 rules, the WMF is online only, and the Bundesbank branch offices are closed for individual customers.

The good thing is that the mintage is the usual 30 million again, so it will actually be possible to find them in circulation. Also, some commercial banks may have them. If that is not an option, you can buy BU and proof sets, not at face though. Either along with the regular circulation coins, or 5-coin sets, just that issue but all five mintmarks.

Christian