Euro - Facts About The Euro

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"E-day" refers to 1st Jan 2002 where the largest currency conversion takes place in history. It was the day where the following countries all adopted Euro as their standard currency :
1. Austria
2. Belgium
3. Finland
4. France
5. Germany
6. Greece
7. Ireland
8. Italy
9. Luxembourg
10. Netherlands
11. Portugal
12. Spain
It took 7 to 8 years in the planning and after much discussion and disagreements, the name "Euro" was finally decided in December 1995 at a meeting of the European Council in Madrid.
Since all the major currencies, the dollar, pound sterling and yen are represented by a well known graphic symbol, Jean-Pierre Malivoir, a Frenchman and the European Union's Euro mission chief was tasked to do the same for Euro.
He observed that most of the currencies' symbols have parallel lines running, so he decided that he will do the same for the Euro. He was inspired by the Greek letter epsilon which gave rise to the famous E (an uppercase "C" with two parallel lines cutting through the center). The lines are said to represent stability.
In December 1996, the European Monetary Institute (later became the European Central Bank) unveiled the winning designs for the new Euro banknotes. The winner was Robert Kalina, an engraver at the Austrian Central Bank in Vienna. He was chosen over 46 other applicants to design the banknotes. His main challenge was to design a series of notes that represent a United Europe and yet not symbolic of any particular country. He later decided to do it the following way :
* 5 Euro - based on Classical Greco-Roman times
* 10 Euro - Romanesque
* 20 Euro - Gothic
* 50 Euro - Renaissance
* 100 Euro - Baroque-Rococo
* 200 Euro - Iron and Glass
* 500 Euro - 21st century postmodern
The bridges, windows and gateways shown on the notes are symbolic and do not represent existing monuments.
The coins were given a bit more flexibility. On one face is a standard map of Europe while the other will be left to the specific country to design something iconic. For example, Ireland has a Celtic harp, Austria a Edleweiss, Germany has got the Berlin's Bradnenburg Gate, Netherlands show Queen Beatrix and Belgium has got King Albert. All are legal tender.
In order to cover the 11 official languages of the European Commission (EC), Euro notes contain 5 variations of the initials of the European Central Bank: ECB, BCE, EZB, EKT and EKP.
During the last 2 weeks of 2001, Euro starter kits containing an assortment of the new coins were available for purchase at banks and post offices.
Euro notes have anti-fraud features including see-through registers, fluorescent fibres, foil holograms, watermarks and security threads.
Denmark was not among the initial eurozone countries because its citizens voted not to adopt the euro in the autumn of 2000.
Sweden was not among the initial eurozone countries because it did not meet the European Commission's criteria for adopting the Euro.

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