1 ECU Charles V

Issued as part of Spain's presidency of the European Council in 1993, this piece belongs to a wave of ECU-denominated collector issues that proliferated across Europe during the Maastricht Treaty period, when the ECU was still a basket currency rather than physical tender. None of these coins ever circulated as currency — the ECU existed only in electronic transfers and accounting ledgers until it was replaced by the euro in 1999.