ECU Europa; 40 mm

The ECU was never legal tender in the conventional sense — it functioned as a basket currency used for European Community accounting and financial settlements from 1979 onward, with member state central banks issuing commemorative pieces denominated in ECUs largely as collector items and diplomatic gifts. These gold-plated copper strikes occupied an odd institutional space: officially sanctioned, carrying nominal face values, yet never intended to circulate.

The series ended when the ECU was retired at a fixed 1:1 conversion rate into the euro on January 1, 1999.