Catalog
0 Euro - Maastricht - MIF 2018
| Issuer | EuroSouvenir / MIF Money Fair |
|---|---|
| Year | 2018 |
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| Size | 135 x 74 mm |
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| Obverse description | A full-figure intaglio-style illustration of the musketeer d'Artagnan in period costume occupies the central field, set against a vignette of the Sint Servaasbridge and the Romanesque towers of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek in Maastricht, rendered throughout in a purple-violet colour scheme over a fine guilloche underprint. To the left, a large zero numeral in dark guilloche work is surmounted by the blue EU flag logo and the series identifier '2018-1', with a rectangular MIF commemorative overprint reading 'MONEY FAIR - MECC MAASTRICHT / 9 & 10 NOVEMBER 2018' placed beneath. The title inscription 'MAASTRICHT - MIF 2018' appears at the top in bold purple letterpress, with the split legend 'EURO SOUVENIR' at lower centre and the facsimile signature of R. Faille, C.E.O. PEAB, at lower right. |
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| Obverse lettering | MAASTRICHT - MIF 2018 EUROSOUVENIR 2018-1 0 MIF MONEY FAIR - MECC MAASTRICHT 9 & 10 NOVEMBER 2018 0 EURO SOUVENIR R. FAILLE C.E.O. PEAB |
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| Comments |
The zero-euro souvenir note program was launched in France in 2015 by Richard Faille, initially targeting tourist sites and museums. Oberthur Fiduciaire prints them to the same security specification as circulating euro banknotes — genuine security thread, microprinting, UV-reactive inks — which is precisely the point. They are legal to produce because they carry no face value, sidestepping the counterfeiting statutes that govern all positive denominations.
This example was issued for the MIF Money Fair held in Maastricht in 2018 — the city where the 1992 treaty establishing the euro was signed, which gives the location at least some thematic coherence for a numismatic event souvenir.