Identifying marks on euro coins

Before the introduction of the euro, the current eurozone members issued their own individual national coinage, most of which featured mint marks, privy marks and/or mint master marks. These marks have been continued as a part of the national designs of the euro coins, as well. This article serves to list the information about the various types of identifying marks on euro coins, including engraver and designer initials and the unique edge inscriptions found on the €2 coins.

Date stamps on euro coins

Since the euro was officially introduced in 1999, most of the EMU member countries began producing their coins ahead of the 2002 introduction date. There is individual national legislation in place which governs the mintage of coins issued from each country. These coinage acts regulate the coin production parameters for each country.

Mintage date

The coinage acts of countries with a mintage date stipulation specifies that the year the coin is minted, regardless of when the coins are issued, should appear on each coin. Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands and Spain have mintage date stipulations.

Issue date

The coinage acts of countries with an issue date stipulation specifies that the year the coin is issued, regardless of when the coins are minted, should appear on each coin. Austria, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, San Marino and the Vatican City have issue date stipulations.

Conclusion

Since the euro was first issued in 2002, the countries which have an issue date stipulation are all dated 2002 onward, even though these coins were minted in previous years to prepare for the adoption of the euro. As a result, there are no euro coins dated 1999, 2000 and 2001 issued from countries with an issue date stipulation. Luxembourg has no domestic mint, so their coins are minted elsewhere. Regardless of the mintage location of these coins, the issue date stipulation in their coinage act must be followed by whichever country mints their coins and the date stamp is therefore applied accordingly. Since Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City do not have their own coinage acts, the date stamp is applied in accordance with the coinage act of whichever country mints these coins. France produces the euro coins for Monaco and follows the mintage date stipulation; it began minting Monégasque euro coins only in 2001, since the mintage quantities were so low. Sammarinese and Vatican euro coins are minted in Italy and follow the issue date stipulation.

National identifying marks of euro coins

As per a recommendation defined by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union,^[1] the national designs of each member's euro coin should contain a national identification in the form of spelling or abbreviation of the country's name. Of the fifteen members of the Eurozone at the time these recommendations were made, five national designs—those of Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany and Greece—did not meet the criteria outlined. Of these five, two (Finland in 2007 and Belgium in 2008) have changed or amended their design to follow these recommendations, and the other three are expected to follow suit in the coming years.

National identifying marks on euro coins by country

Country	Type	Description	Image
Andorra
Austria	Symbol	Flag of Austria
Belgium	Symbol	Monogram of King Albert II
	Abbreviation	BE (België/Belgique/Belgien in Dutch, French and German)[2]
Cyprus	Text	KYΠPOΣ/KIBRIS (in both Greek and Turkish)
Estonia	Text	EESTI (Estonia)
Finland	Abbreviation	FI (Finland)[3]
France	Abbreviation	stylized RF (République française)
Germany	Symbol	Eagle
Greece	none
Ireland	Text / Symbol	éıʀe	Harp
Italy	Abbreviation	stylized RI (Repubblica Italiana)
Latvia	Text	LATVIJA
Lithuania	Text	LIETUVA
Luxembourg	Text	LËTZEBUERG (Luxembourg in Luxembourgish)
Malta	Text	MALTA
Monaco	Text	MONACO
Netherlands	Text	WILLEM-ALEXANDER KONING DER NEDERLANDEN (Willem Alexander, King of the Netherlands)
Portugal	Text	PORTUGAL
San Marino	Text	SAN MARINO
Slovakia	Text	SLOVENSKO
Slovenia	Text	SLOVENIJA
Spain	Text	ESPAÑA
Vatican City	Text	CITTÀ DEL VATICANO (Vatican City)

Mint marks

The use of mint marks on euro coins takes one of these three forms:

• a single letter representing a city or country
• the abbreviation of the country's mint
• the symbol of the country's mint

Mint marks on euro coins by country

Country	Mint location	Mint mark	Mint mark description	Notes
Belgium	Brussels		Head of archangel St. Michael, patron saint of Brussels.	Prior to 2008, Belgian marks had only been used on commemorative issues. Since 2008, the marks are used on both standard issue and commemorative issue coins.
Finland	Vantaa	[3]	Logo of the Rahapaja Oy mint
France	Pessac		Cornucopia, Different of the Monnaie de Paris[4]
Germany	German Euro coins are minted at 5 locations in Germany	A, D, F, G, J	Letters	A for Berlin, D for Munich, F for Stuttgart, G for Karlsruhe, J for Hamburg, while B, C, E and H used to be mint locations that had been closed prior to the introduction of the euro.
Greece (2002)	Madrid, Spain Pessac, France Vantaa, Finland Athens	E (20c), F (1c, 2c, 5c, 10c and 50c), S[5] (€1 and €2)	Letters	E for Spain (España), F for France, S for Finland (Suomi). The initial supply of Greek euro coins were produced at three locations, in addition to the Athens mint, due to their late entry into the European Monetary Union (EMU) just before the introduction date on 1 January 2002; only certain denominations of Greek coins with the date stamp of "2002" have these mint marks. Greek euro coins dated 2002 without these mint marks were produced in Athens, Greece. All Greek euro coins bear the standard Greek mint mark symbol of the Athens mint.
Greece (2002–present)	Athens		Stylized acanthus leaf
Italy	Rome	R	Letter
Lithuania	Vilnius		Lietuvos monetų kalykla (Lithuanian Mint House, LMK) logo
Luxembourg (2002–2004)	Utrecht, Netherlands		Mercury's wand, the logo of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (Royal Dutch Mint)
Luxembourg (2005–2006)	Vantaa, Finland	S,[5]	Letter, logo of the Rahapaja Oy mint
Luxembourg (2007–2008)	Pessac, France	F,	Letter, Cornucopia, Different of the Monnaie de Paris[4]
Luxembourg (2009–present)	Utrecht, Netherlands		Mercury's wand, the logo of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (Royal Dutch Mint)
Malta (2008–2009)	Paris, France	F	Letter
Monaco	Pessac, France		Cornucopia, Different of the Monnaie de Paris[4] (Paris Mint)
Netherlands	Utrecht		Mercury's wand, the logo of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (Royal Dutch Mint)
Poland	Warsaw		Mennica Polska (Polish Mint) logo	Poland is not yet part of the Eurozone. When the euro is introduced, this is the mintmark which will be used. The Polish Mint logo is the letter M on top of the letter W and comes from Mennica Warszawa or Warsaw Mint
Portugal	Lisbon	INCM	Imprensa Nacional – Casa de Moeda (National Currency – Mint House) abbreviation
San Marino	Rome, Italy	R	Letter
Slovakia	Kremnica		Mincovňa Kremnica (Kremnican Mint, MK) logo
Slovenia (2007)	Vantaa, Finland	Fi[5]	Abbreviation
Slovenia (2008–present)	Utrecht, Netherlands		Mercury's wand, the logo of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (Royal Dutch Mint)
Spain	Madrid		Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (National Factory of Currency and Stamps) logo
Vatican	Rome, Italy	R	Letter

Mint master marks and privy marks

Mint master marks or privy marks are symbols representing directors, chief engravers or chief executive officers of mints.

Belgium

The directors of the Monnaie Royale de Belgique/Koninklijke Munt van België (Royal Belgian Mint) in Brussels uses mint master's marks on all €2 commemorative coins and on all Belgian euro coins with a datestamp from 2008 onwards minted at this location.

Mint master marks on Belgian euro coins

Mark	Mark description	Name of mint master	Coin dates
	Scale	Romain Coenen	1999–present (€2 commemorative coins) 2008–present (standard issue euro coins)

Finland

The director of the Rahapaja Oy (Mint of Finland, LTD.) mint in Helsinki-Vantaa used a mint master's mark on Finnish euro coins minted at this location with the date stamp between 1999 and 2006.

Mint master mark on Finnish euro coins 1999–2006

Mark	Mark description	Name of mint master	Coin dates
M	Letter	Raimo Makkonen	1999–2006

France

The directors of Monnaie de Paris in Pessac use mint master's marks on all French euro coins minted at this location.

Mint master marks on French euro coins

Mark	Mark description	Name of mint master	Coin dates
	Bee	Pierre Rodier	1999–2000
	Horseshoe	Gérard Buquoy	2001–2002
	Stylized heart with the initials of the mint master	Serge Levet	2003
[4]	Hunting horn, a wave and a fish	Hubert Larivière	2004–2010
[6]	Pentagon with letters AG, MP and YS	Yves Sampo	2011–present

Luxembourg

Luxembourg euro coins dated 2002 were minted in the Netherlands in 2000 and thus bear the mint master mark of E. J. van Schauwenburg, temporary director of the Utrecht mint during the year of coin production. The coinage act of Luxembourg stipulates that national coins can not have a date stamp prior to the year of issue. Therefore, Luxembourg euro coins bear the mint master mark of the temporary director at the time of minting, despite the date on the coins.

Coins dated 2003–2004 bear the mint master mark of Maarten Brouwer, director of the Utrecht mint from 2003–present. Luxembourgian euro coins dated 2005–2006 were produced at Rahapaja Oy, in Helsinki-Vantaa, Finland. Since the mint director does not affix a mint master mark to coins in production at this location, these coins do not bear a mint master mark.

Luxembourg euro coins dated 2007-2008 were produced at Monnaie de Paris, in Pessac, France and bear the mint master mark of Hubert Larivière, director of the Paris mint.

As of 2009, coins are again minted at the Royal Dutch Mint in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Luxembourg is the only member of the Eurozone to have all of their coins produced at three different foreign mints.

Mint master marks on Luxembourgian euro coins

Mark	Mark description	Name of mint master	Coin dates
	Bow and arrow with a star[7]	E. J. van Schauwenburg	2002
	Sailboat	Maarten Brouwer	2003–2004
[4]	Hunting horn, a wave and a fish	Hubert Larivière	2007–2008
	Sailboat	Maarten Brouwer	2009–present

Monaco

Monegasque euro coins are produced by Monnaie de Paris, in Pessac, France beginning in 2001 and thus bear the mint master mark of Gérard Buquoy, Serge Levet, Hubert Larivière and Yves Sampo directors of the mint from 2001–2002, 2003, 2004–2010 and 2011-present respectively.

Mint master marks on Monegasque euro coins

Mark	Mark description	Name of mint master	Coin dates
	Horseshoe	Gérard Buquoy	2001–2002
	Stylized heart with the initials of the mint master	Serge Levet	2003
[4]	Hunting horn, a wave and a fish	Hubert Larivière	2004–2010[8]
[6]	Pentagon with letters AG, MP and YS	Yves Sampo	2011–present

Netherlands

The mint masters of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (Royal Dutch Mint) in Utrecht use mint master's marks on all Dutch euro coins minted at this location.^[9]

Mint master marks on Dutch euro coins

Mark	Mark description	Name of mint master	Coin dates
	Bow and arrow	Drs. Chr. van Draanen	1999
	Bow and arrow with a star[7]	E. J. van Schauwenburg	2000
	Vine branch and fruits	R. Bruens	2001
	Vine branch and fruits with a star[7]	Maarten Brouwer	2002
	Sailboat	Maarten Brouwer	2003–present

Slovenia

Slovenian euro coins dated 2008–present were produced at Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and bear the mint master mark of Maarten Brouwer, director of the Royal Dutch Mint from 2003 onwards.

Mint master mark on Slovenian euro coins 2008–present

Mark	Mark description	Name of mint master	Coin dates
	Sailboat	Maarten Brouwer	2008–present

Designer, sculptor and engraver initials on euro coins

Each country had the opportunity to design its own national side of the euro coin. Most coins bear the initials or the name of the designer somewhere in the national design. For example, all eight motives of the common reverse sides of the euro coins bear the stylized initials "LL" for Luc Luycx.

Designer, sculptor and engraver initials on standard euro coins

Inscriptions of initials on standard issue euro coins by country

Euro coin denomination	Inscription image	Inscription text	Name	Title
France
1, 2, 5 cent		F. COURTIADE	Fabienne Courtiade	designer
10, 20, 50 cent	[10]	L. JORIO d'ap. O.ROTY	Laurent Jorio, Oscar Roty[11]	designer
1, 2 euro		J. JIMENEZ	Joaquim Jimenez	designer
Greece
All denominations		ΓΣ (stylised)	Georges Stamatopoulos	designer
Italy
1 cent		ED (stylised)	Eugenio Driutti	engraver
2 cent		LDS (stylised)	Luciana De Simoni	engraver
5 cent		ELF	Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini	engraver
10 cent		CM	Claudia Momoni	engraver
20 cent		M.A.C.	Maria Angela Cassol	engraver
50 cent		M (stylised)	Roberto Mauri	engraver
1 euro		LC (stylised)	Laura Cretara	engraver
2 euro		M.C.C.	Maria Carmela Colaneri	engraver
Luxembourg
All denominations		YGC (stylised)	Yvette Gastauer-Claire	designer
Malta
1, 2 and 5 cent		NGB	Noel Galea Bason	designer
Portugal
All denominations		VS (stylised)	Vítor Manuel Fernandes dos Santos	designer
San Marino
All denominations		Ch (stylised)	Frantisek Chochola	sculptor
All denominations		ELF INC.[12]	Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini	engraver
Slovakia
1, 2, 5 cent		Z	Drahomír Zobek	designer
10, 20, 50 cent		JČ (stylised) and 'PK' (stylised)	Ján Černaj and Pavol Károly	designers
1, 2 euro		IŘ (stylised)	Ivan Řehák	designer
Vatican City (first series)
1, 2 and 5 cent		GV • UP INC.[12]	Guido Veroi (sculptor) Uliana Pernazza (engraver)
10, 20 and 50 cent		GV • UP INC.[12]	Guido Veroi (sculptor) Uliana Pernazza (engraver)
1 and 2 euro	[10]	GV • UP INC.[12]	Guido Veroi (sculptor) Uliana Pernazza (engraver)
Vatican City (second series)
All denominations		D. LONGO	Daniela Longo	sculptor
1 cent		M.A.C. INC.[12]	Maria Angela Cassol	engraver
2 cent		LDS (stylized) INC.[12]	Luciana De Simoni	engraver
5 cent		ELF INC.[12]	Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini	engraver
10 cent		M.C.C. INC.[12]	Maria Carmela Colaneri	engraver
20 cent		M.A.C. INC.[12]	Maria Angela Cassol	engraver
50 cent		LDS (stylised) INC.[12]	Luciana De Simoni	engraver
1 euro		ELF INC.[12]	Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini	engraver
2 euro		M.C.C. INC.[12]	Maria Carmela Colaneri	engraver
Vatican City (third series)
All denominations		D.L.	Daniela Longo	sculptor
1 and 2 cent		LDS INC.[12]	Luciana De Simoni	engraver
5 cent		ELF INC.[12]	Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini	engraver
10 cent		M.C.C. INC.[12]	Maria Carmela Colaneri	engraver
20 and 50 cent		M.A.C. INC.[12]	Maria Angela Cassol	engraver
1 euro		ELF INC.[12]	Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini	engraver
2 euro		M.C.C. INC.[12]	Maria Carmela Colaneri	engraver

Designer, sculptor and engraver initials on €2 commemorative coins

Inscriptions of initials on €2 commemorative coins by year

Country	Inscription image	Inscription text	Name	Title
2004
Finland		M M	Pertti Mäkinen (designer) Raimo Makkonen (mint master)
Italy		UP (stylised)	Uliana Pernazza	engraver
San Marino		E.L.F.	Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini	engraver
Vatican	[10]	VEROI L.D.S. INC.[12]	Guido Veroi (designer) Luciana De Simoni (engraver)
2005
Belgium		LL (stylised)	Luc Luycx	designer
Finland		K	Tapio Kettunen	designer
Italy		M.C.C.	Maria Carmela Colaneri	engraver
San Marino		LDS (stylised) INC.[12]	Luciana De Simoni	engraver
Vatican	[10]	LONGO ELF INC.[12]	Daniela Longo (designer) Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini (engraver)
2006
Finland		M (the two marks reflect the mirror motif of the coin)	Raimo Makkonen	mint master
Germany		HH	Heinz Hoyer	designer
Italy		M.C.C.	Maria Carmela Colaneri	engraver
San Marino		LDS (stylised)	Luciana De Simoni	engraver
Vatican		O.ROSSI MCC INC.[12]	Orietta Rossi (designer) Maria Carmela Colaneri (engraver)
2007
Germany		HH	Heinz Hoyer	designer
Monaco		R.B.BARON	R. B. Baron	designer
Portugal	[13]	I Vilar (signature)	Irene Vilar	designer
San Marino		E.L.F.	Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini	engraver
Vatican		LONGO MCC INC.[12]	Daniela Longo (designer) Maria Carmela Colaneri (engraver)
2008
Finland		K	Tapio Kettunen	sculptor
Germany		OE (stylised)	Erich Ott	designer
Italy		MCC	Maria Carmela Colaneri	engraver
San Marino	[10]	E.L.F.	Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini	engraver
Vatican		VEROI	Guido Veroi	engraver

€2 edge inscriptions

With each member of the Eurozone comes a set of individual coin designs. Included in the individuality of the national obverse face of the euro coins, whose design is left to the member states, is the edge of the €2 coin. Each member was allowed to design a unique inscription that would appear on the €2 coin's edge. Some of these edge inscriptions are carried over from the coins of the yielded currencies in circulation prior to the introduction of the euro.

Standard issue €2 edge inscriptions

Standard €2 edge inscriptions by country

Country	Edge inscription	Description
Austria		The sequence "2 EURO ★★★" repeated four times alternately upright and inverted.
Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain		The sequence "2 ★ ★" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted.
Cyprus		The sequence "2 ΕΥΡΩ 2 EURO" repeated twice (2 EURO in Greek and Turkish).
Estonia		"EESTI ○" (ESTONIA in Estonian) upright and inverted.
Finland		"SUOMI FINLAND" (FINLAND in Finnish and Swedish, the two official languages in Finland), followed by three lion's heads.
Germany		"EINIGKEIT UND RECHT UND FREIHEIT" (UNITY AND JUSTICE AND FREEDOM in German), Germany's national motto and the beginning of Germany's national anthem, followed by the Federal Eagle.
Greece		"ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ ★" (ELLINIKI DIMOKRATIA: "HELLENIC REPUBLIC" in Greek).
Italy, San Marino, Vatican		The sequence "2 ★" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted.
Latvia		"DIEVS SVĒTĪ LATVIJU" (GOD BLESS LATVIA)
Lithuania		"LAISVĖ, VIENYBĖ, GEROVĖ" ("Freedom, Unity, Prosperity" in Lithuanian)
Malta		The sequence "2✠✠" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted
Netherlands		"GOD ★ ZIJ ★ MET ★ ONS ★" (GOD BE WITH US in Dutch). The same lettering had been applied to the larger denomination guilder coins.
Portugal		The edge design features the seven castles and five coats of arms also found on the national side, all equally spaced.
Slovakia		"SLOVENSKÁ REPUBLIKA" (SLOVAK REPUBLIC in Slovak) with two stars and linden leaf between.
Slovenia		"SLOVENIJA •" (SLOVENIA in Slovene)

Commemorative issue €2 edge inscriptions

Generally the edge inscription of a €2 commemorative coin does not change from the standard issue counterpart. There are a few exceptions.

Commemorative €2 edge inscriptions by issue date

Year and Country	Edge inscription	Description
2005, Finland		"YK 1945–2005 FN" ("UN 1945–2005 UN" in Finnish and Swedish, the official languages of Finland) followed by three lion's heads. "YK" stands for "Yhdistyneet Kansakunnat" and "FN" stands for "Förenta Nationerna".[14] Issued to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and Finland's 50 year membership in the UN.[15]
2007, Finland		"ROMFÖRDRAGET 50 ÅR EUROPA" ("TREATY OF ROME 50 YEARS EUROPE" in Swedish, one of the official languages of Finland. The same words in Finnish - "ROOMAN SOPIMUS 50 V EUROOPPA" - appear on the face of this coin). Issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome.[16]

Notes

1. "OJ 2005/ L 186/1" (PDF). Official Journal of the European Union. 18 July 2005.
2. As applied to the 2008 amended design onward.
3. As applied to the 2007 amended design onward.
4. "Monnaie de Paris "About our mint master's mark"". Retrieved 2007-10-23.
5. Coins minted in Finland have "FI", "F" or "S" as the mint mark.
6. http://www.muenzenwoche.de/de/Archiv/8?&id=566&type=n
7. The star represents a temporary director.
8. There are no Monegasque coins issued into general circulation with this mint master mark on them. Coins minted from 2004–2006 were minted in proof quality for collector sets only and none were produced in 2007.
9. The span between 1999 and 2003 marks the first time in Dutch currency history where five different mint master's marks were used in consecutive years.
10. The image has been rotated 90 degrees clockwise for presentation purposes.
11. In 1898, Oscar Roty created the famous character of La Semeuse (the Sower) for the silver coins of the 3rd Republic. The 'Sower' is represented on the 10, 20 and 50 cent French euro coins. The original design of that character is attributed to him in this inscription.
12. INC is the Italian abbreviation for 'engraver'.
13. The image has been rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise for presentation purposes.
14. see Wiktionary:Yhdistyneet Kansakunnat and Wiktionary:United Nations - Translations
15. 2005 commemorative euro coins from the European Commission
16. Celebrating 50 years of Europe with the euro from the European Commission

References

• Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (2007-10-23). "Muntmeesterteken". Archived from the original on 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
• "European Central Bank". 2007-10-23. Archived from the original on 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
• Mintmarks "The Euro- Information Website" Check |url= value (help). 2008-01-05. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
• Mint Master Marks "The Euro- Information Website" Check |url= value (help). 2007-01-05. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
• National Identification "The Euro- Information Website" Check |url= value (help). 2007-01-05. Retrieved 2008-01-05.