Cyprus struck this issue through one of the more politically fractured periods in its modern history — the northern third of the island remained under Turkish military occupation throughout the entire production run, a division that persists to this day and that shaped the Central Bank's mandate in ways few small-denomination coins reflect so quietly. The coat of arms type designation distinguishes it from the earlier KM#55.1 and 55.2 variants, which carried a different arms configuration following design revisions tied to the republic's evolving post-1974 official symbolism.
The series was rendered obsolete by Cyprus's accession to the EU in 2004 and the subsequent path toward euro adoption, finalized in 2008.
Cyprus struck this issue through one of the more politically fractured periods in its modern history — the northern third of the island remained under Turkish military occupation throughout the entire production run, a division that persists to this day and that shaped the Central Bank's mandate in ways few small-denomination coins reflect so quietly. The coat of arms type designation distinguishes it from the earlier KM#55.1 and 55.2 variants, which carried a different arms configuration following design revisions tied to the republic's evolving post-1974 official symbolism.
The series was rendered obsolete by Cyprus's accession to the EU in 2004 and the subsequent path toward euro adoption, finalized in 2008.