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Euro Celebrates 10th Birthday
 | By Lisa Bellavin, Market Update
January 06, 2009 |
Residents of the Euro-zone marked the 10th anniversary of their coinage on Jan. 1 with the release of a new commemorative two-euro coin.
Citizens and residents of the European Union chose the design in an online vote last year. The winning design was created by, Georgios Stamatopoulos, of the Minting Department of the Greek Central Bank. It depicts a stylized human figure whose arm extends to become the symbol of the euro.
The name of the issuing country will appear at the top of the coin in the national language, while the years 1999-2009 and the acronym for the European Monetary Union will appear at the bottom.
84 million coins will be minted across the 16 Euro-zone countries.
The euro was created in 1999 when 11 countries locked their exchange rates and positioned themselves with one monetary and exchange rate policy. Today the euro is the official currency of 16 of the 27 member states of the European Union and is used by 327 million people.
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