Identifying Marks on Euro Coins
For those of you who are interested in getting to know your Euro Coins more intimately I have included this page that contains much useless but fascinating information! I believe however that the purpose of a hobby is, first and foremost, to simply enjoy it for its own sake and then the concept of useful information is less applicable.
The Identifying marks on the Euro coins can be devided into four main groups:
At the moment only the first two are dealt with here but I hope in the course of the year to extend coverage to the latter two.
Identifying Marks for the Countries
Initially it was decided that the national sides of the Euro Coins should not in any way, apart from the design, indicate the country issueing the coin - difficult to understand but nevertheless a fact.
It was later (2005) decided that the national sides should indeed indicate the country of origin. Of the countries that followed the original guide lines and have not adapted since the 2005 change in directives,only Germany and Greece remain i.e. only these two have no identification mark on the national side. The case of Austria is somewhat unclear as they have a styilized representation of the national flag but it could represent any flag that consists of three horizontal stripes.
I think that sooner or later all three countries will change their sides so that they comform with the new guidelines.
Of the remaining seventeen countries four are represented by abbreviations and thirteen by the full name. This is shown in the following table.
Summary of national Identification
| Country | Type of Identification |
Identification |
| Andorra | Text | ANDORRA |
| Austria | none | |
| Belgium | Abbreviation | BE |
| Cyprus | Text | ΚΥΠΡΟΣ/KIBRIS In Greek and Turkish |
| Estonia | Text | EESTI |
| Finland | Abbreviation from 2007 |
FI |
| France | Abbreviation | RF |
| Germany | None | |
| Greece | None | |
| Ireland | Text | éire |
| Italy | Abbreviation | RI |
| Latvia | Text | LATVIJA |
| Lithuania | Text | LIETUVA |
| Luxembourg | Text | LËTZEBUERG |
| Malta | Text | Malta |
| Monaco | Text | Monaco |
| Netherlands | Text until 2013 ------------------ Text from 2014 |
BEATRIX KONINGIN DER NIEDERLANDEN ---------------- Willem-Alexander Koning der Nederlanden |
| Portugal | Text | PORTUGAL |
| San Marino | Text | SAN MARINO |
| Slovakia | Text | SLOVENSKO |
| Slovenia | Text | SLOVENIJA |
| Spain | Text | ESPAÑA |
| Vatican City | Text | CITTÁ DEL VATICANO |
Mint Marks
Here we are breaking new ground that is I think somewhat more interesting than the preceding. What follows comes largely from Wikipedia.
The Mint Marks
Summary of national Identification
| Country | Mint Location | Mint Mark |
| Belgium | Brussels |  |
| France | Paris |  |
| Germany | Berlin,München Stuttgart,Karlsruhe Hamburg |
A,D F,G J |
| Greece | Athens |  |
| Italy | Rome | R |
| Monaco | Paris | |
| Netherlands | Utrecht |  |
| Portugal | Lisbon | INCM |
| San Marino | Rome | R |
| Spain | Madrid |  |
| Vatican City | Rome | R |
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