5 Euro Cents

Slovakia joined the eurozone on 1 January 2009, retiring the koruna after nearly sixteen years of post-Czechoslovak independence. The timing was fortunate: Slovakia locked in its euro conversion rate before the 2008 financial crisis fully destabilized currency markets across Central Europe, a negotiating outcome that neighboring countries still transitioning to the euro have since envied. These cents entered circulation on the first day of that changeover and have been produced continuously since.