10 Euros Care

Germany's trimetallic "collector euro" series — introduced in 2016 and nicknamed the "Plastikgeld" in some quarters — was a genuine engineering oddity when it launched: the polymer ring contracts and expands at a different rate than the metal components, a thermal behavior problem the Bundesrepublik's minting authority had to solve before full production could begin. The "Care" theme belongs to a subseries focused on climate and environment, issued under the standing authorisation of the German Commemorative Coin Act rather than any single legislative trigger.

These pieces are legal tender but were never intended to circulate. The polymer ring remains the primary anti-counterfeiting element.