Greece was one of twelve nations to adopt the euro on January 1, 2002, though its entry into the eurozone had been delayed a full year from the original launch because its economy failed to meet the Maastricht convergence criteria on the first assessment. The "1st map" designation distinguishes these early issues from the redesigned reverse introduced in 2007, which replaced the fifteen-nation EU map with an updated version reflecting subsequent enlargements.
Greek euro coins from 2002 were partially struck at foreign mints to meet demand — a detail the KM reference alone does not convey.
Greece was one of twelve nations to adopt the euro on January 1, 2002, though its entry into the eurozone had been delayed a full year from the original launch because its economy failed to meet the Maastricht convergence criteria on the first assessment. The "1st map" designation distinguishes these early issues from the redesigned reverse introduced in 2007, which replaced the fifteen-nation EU map with an updated version reflecting subsequent enlargements.
Greek euro coins from 2002 were partially struck at foreign mints to meet demand — a detail the KM reference alone does not convey.