1 Euro 1st map

Greece was the last of the twelve initial eurozone members to have its coins approved for circulation — a delay caused partly by production bottlenecks at the Athens mint and partly by the political sensitivity around including a country whose economy already showed the strains that would later become a sovereign debt crisis. The 2002 Greek euro issues entered circulation months after those of most partner states, meaning many early examples were distributed through bank rolls rather than through ordinary retail transactions, which accounts for the relatively high proportion of uncirculated survivors.