Catalog
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| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1980 |
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| Shape | Round |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Nine national symbols of the original EEC member states participating in the European Monetary System are arranged in a circular pattern, each accompanied by its respective national abbreviation below. The represented nations are France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and Ireland. At the center of the design, the monogram ECU appears in a cruciform arrangement, flanked by the date 1980 distributed around the central field. |
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| Additional information |
The 1979–1980 ECU series was minted by the Monnaie de Paris to mark the launch of the European Currency Unit — the basket currency that replaced the European Unit of Account on January 1, 1979, under the newly established European Monetary System. This particular piece acknowledges the nine EMS founding members, though Greece would join the bloc in 1981, rendering the "9 countries" designation historically specific to a very narrow window.
Florentine bronze, with its deliberately antiqued surface texture, was chosen to evoke medieval Florentine florins — the first pan-European trade currency of significance. A pointed reference, not an accidental one.