Catalog
0 Euro - La Cotinière
| Issuer | France |
|---|---|
| Year | 2025 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 135 × 74 mm |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette presents the Cotinière lighthouse at Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron, accompanied by a fishing vessel at sea and a sea anchor. The composition is rendered in the visual style of the Euro Souvenir series, with the denomination '0' and regional identification 'LA COTINIÈRE' integrated into the design. Issue code EUROSOUVENIR 2025-4 and issuing authority references appear within the layout. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries the standard Euro Souvenir reverse design, with vignettes of six iconic European monuments arranged across the note: Brandenburg Gate (Berlin), Belém Tower (Lisbon), Eiffel Tower (Paris), Colosseum (Rome), Sagrada Família (Barcelona), and Manneken-Pis (Brussels). A reproduction of the Mona Lisa portrait appears to the right, consistent with the Euro Souvenir series format, with printer and origin inscriptions at lower centre. |
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| Comments |
The zero-euro souvenir note is a French invention born from a 2015 loophole: because the notes carry no monetary value, they fall outside the European Central Bank's exclusive right to authorize euro currency, allowing private issuers to produce them legally. Oberthur Fiduciaire prints them with full security features — genuine intaglio printing, UV elements, and a metallic strip — making them technically more sophisticated than many circulating banknotes from smaller issuing nations.
La Cotinière is a fishing port on the Île d'Oléron off the Charente-Maritime coast, one of France's busiest inshore fishing harbors. Its appearance in this series reflects the tourist-collector market that now drives the entire zero-euro program.