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 Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

, although other precious metals are also used in rare occasions.

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

was one of the first twelve countries in the Eurozone that introduced the euro (€) on 1 January 2002. Since then, the Belgian Royal Mint have been minting both normal issues of Belgian euro coins, which are intended for circulation, and commemorative euro coins in gold and silver. These special coins are only

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 ...

in Belgium, unlike the normal issues of the Belgian euro coins, which are 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. Belgium mints five of these coins on average per year, in both gold and silver, with face value ranging from 10 to 100 euros. All the coins were designed by

Luc Luycx Luc Luycx (; born 11 April 1958) is the designer of the common side of the euro coins. Luycx is a computer engineer and medallist. He was born in Aalst, Belgium and now lives in Dendermonde. Luycx worked for the Royal Belgian Mint. He designed th ...

Summary

As of 3 July 2008, 27 variations of Belgian commemorative coins have been minted: two in 2002, two in 2003, four in 2004, four in 2005, six in 2006, six in 2007, seven in 2008 and two 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

2010 coinage

2011 coinage

2012 coinage

Notes