Euro gold and silver commemorative coins are special

euro coins There are eight euro coin denominations, ranging from one cent to two euros (the euro is divided into a hundred cents). The coins first came into use in 2002. They have a common reverse, portraying a map of Europe, but each country in the eurozone ...

minted and issued by member states of the

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro ( €) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU polici ...

, mainly in gold and silver, although other precious metals are also used in rare occasions.

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

was one of the first twelve countries in the Eurozone that introduced the euro (€) on 1 January 2002. Since then, the

Mint of Finland The Mint of Finland ( fi, Suomen Rahapaja, sv, Myntverket i Finland) is the national mint of Finland. It was established by Alexander II of Russia in 1860 as the markka became the official currency of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The mint was first ...

Ltd. have been minting both normal issues of

Finnish euro coins Finnish euro coins ( Finnish: Suomalaiset eurokolikot) feature three designs. Heikki Häiväoja provided the design for the 1 cent – 50 cent coins, Pertti Mäkinen provided the design for the 1 euro coin, and Raimo Heino provided the design for t ...

, which are intended for circulation, and commemorative euro coins in gold and silver. These special coins have a

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in ...

only in Finland, unlike the normal issues of the Finnish euro coins, which have a legal tender in every country of the Eurozone. This means that the commemorative coins made of gold and silver cannot be used as money in other countries. Furthermore, as their bullion value generally vastly exceeds their face value, these coins are not intended to be used as means of payment at all—although it remains possible. For this reason, they are usually named Collectors' coins. The coins usually commemorate the

anniversaries An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

of historical events or draw attention to current events of special importance. Finland mints four of these coins on average per year, in both gold and silver, with face value ranging from 5 to 100 euros.

Summary

As of 2 October 2008, 26 variations of Finnish commemorative coins have been minted: three in 2002, four in 2003, three in 2004, four in 2005, five in 2006, four in 2007, four in 2008 and one in 2009 so far. These special high-value commemorative coins are not to be confused with

€2 commemorative coins €2 commemorative coins are special euro coins minted and issued by member states of the eurozone since 2004 as legal tender in all eurozone member states. Only the national obverse sides of the coins differ; the common reverse sides do not. The ...

, which are coins designated for circulation and do have legal tender status in all countries of the Eurozone. The following table shows the number of coins minted per year. In the first section, the coins are grouped by the metal used, while in the second section they are grouped by their face value.

Summary

2002 coinage

2003 coinage

2004 coinage

2005 coinage

2006 coinage

2007 coinage

2008 coinage

2009 coinage

Notes

References