Euro coin collecting and future of European Union's currency ?

IKU

Hello
Euro coins appeared as official cash currency about 20 years ago (1.2002). Now 2022.

• For me I have always worried that if European Union would fail then people would be back to each countries own local currencies. If this invalidating of euro currency would ever happen then all current euro coins would lose a lot of interest and value.

Does anyone else collect euro coins ?
I know it is kind of a risky investment because nobody knows how long the union ultimately lasts.

There have been only a very few like overall 5% good euro coin designs over these 20 decades.

• Also 90% of early mint state euro coins have risen 0% in value and usually sell for the same or lower that I bought them when they were new and freshly minted.

Many euro coins are kind of plain and just lack that special thing that would make a coin interesting enough for me to buy them.

What do people think will there be a euro currency after 50-100 years or will the union collapse ?
Is it safe to collect euro coins ? I think only a small number seriously collect euro coins and collecting them has still not become popular even after 20 years. It has been a long time buyer's market for euro coins.
You can get a lot of coins for cheap.

1984worldcoins

I have a few of the 1984 euro precursors (ecu), a very interesting numismatic field.

291fifth

The only Euro coins I have came from Coinstar machine reject slots. The designs on them are unimpressive. I'm not surprised there seems to be little collector interest.

Maxfli

@IKU said:
Many euro coins are kind of plain and just lack that special thing that would make a coin interesting enough for me to buy them.

Much like US coins, the EU 1 cent through 1 euro coins are pretty plain vanilla. Where it gets more interesting, and where most collectors seem to focus their attention, is with the 2 euro circulating commemorative coins.

Each member country has the option of issuing new 2 euro commemoratives every year (I think that’s how it works … I’m not an expert). Some countries exercise that option more enthusiastically than others. I know Germany and Italy have issued lots of them.

While they’re not a serious part of my collection, I’ve enjoyed acquiring 2 euro commemoratives from the EU countries I’ve visited. Here are pics of some the 2 euro coins I’ve brought home from Germany, Spain, Austria and Italy.

neildrobertson

Euros seem very popular. I haven't considered collecting them because they're difficult to get in the US at reasonable prices. Not really worth enough for people to bother importing them in large numbers.

jgenn

@IKU said:
Hello
Euro coins appeared as official cash currency about 20 years ago (1.2002). Now 2022.

• For me I have always worried that if European Union would fail then people would be back to each countries own local currencies. If this invalidating of euro currency would ever happen then all current euro coins would lose a lot of interest and value.

Does anyone else collect euro coins ?
I know it is kind of a risky investment because nobody knows how long the union ultimately lasts.

There have been only a very few like overall 5% good euro coin designs over these 20 decades.

• Also 90% of early mint state euro coins have risen 0% in value and usually sell for the same or lower that I bought them when they were new and freshly minted.

Many euro coins are kind of plain and just lack that special thing that would make a coin interesting enough for me to buy them.

What do people think will there be a euro currency after 50-100 years or will the union collapse ?
Is it safe to collect euro coins ? I think only a small number seriously collect euro coins and collecting them has still not become popular even after 20 years. It has been a long time buyer's market for euro coins.
You can get a lot of coins for cheap.

"Many euro coins are kind of plain and just lack that special thing that would make a coin interesting enough for me to buy them."

Many people overthink the issue of "what should I collect". For most of us this is a hobby. Set your budget for your hobby and then buy what you like. It sounds like you don't even like them so why even think about collecting them?. Coin investors take the opposite approach in that 'I don't have to like it I just need to make a profit in a couple of years'. If you try to find the middle ground you will probably be unhappy with what you buy and/or unhappy when you sell. So are you asking this question as a collector or investor?

jgenn

Make sure you check out @cladking's recent post if you are thinking of investing in moderns.

Sapyx

The interesting thing, to me, is that legally, the euro isn't "a single currency". It's a whole bunch of separate currencies, which every Eurozone member has agreed to give the same name and peg to each other at a 1:1 exchange rate. For the coinage, this means that each country's coins are issued and authorized as legal tender not by the European Union as a whole, but by the issuing country named on the coin. The European Central Bank sets mintage targets for each nation, but there's literally nothing to stop a nation from violating those targets and flooding the market with unsanctioned euro coins. Not entirely unlike the old Latin Monetary Union that used to exist in much of Europe prior to World War I, and the scenario that happened when the Papal States flooded Europe with debased silver LMU coins.

If a country left - or was kicked out - of the Eurozone, theoretically they'd take their euro coins with them - creating two different "euro currencies", one for the breakaway state and one for the rest of Europe. Separating out the breakaway's coins from everybody else's would be a nightmare, as each country's euro coins all have exactly the same specificaitons, so they'd have to do the separating manually; I don't think anybody has yet invented a high speed bulk coin sorting system that works by imaging the coins and picking out the duds by sight.

The breakaway country would also have to star issuing it's own separate "euro banknotes" to go with its coins, however, since banknote issue is the responsibility of the European Central Bank, not the individual national treasuries, and the ECB would want their banknotes back.

The confusion that all this would cause would likely result in the breakaway quickly adopting its own unique currency system, named something other than "euro".

The only time this has actually threatened to happen is when the Greek economy collapsed to the point where it could no longer sustain the "Greek euro"'s parity with the rest of the Eurozone. Greece got bailed out by European banks to forestall the whole "split the euro" scenario. But it could theoretically happen at any time; all it would take is for a right-wing anti-euro government to get elected in a Eurozone member state, and the compendium of gentlemen's agreements that govern the existence of the euro would get tossed out the window.

I had always assumed that the Europeans would, wihtin a decade or two of founding the euro, come to realise the impracticality and fundamental instability of the socioeconomic basis of the euro, and replace it or reform it into something much more closely resembling a "traditional" unitary governmental currency. But so far, nope. I guess we'll have to wait until after the next world war to see that happen.

IKU

Is the oldest still legal US currency starting from around 1790- ? ( If so US has had +230 years of same currency.)
Amazing every other country usually demonetizes well ahead older coins and paper money.

Japan has some yen paper money starting from 1885 (137 year old) that is still legal.
https://www.boj.or.jp/en/note_tfjgs/note/valid/validnotes.pdf

Euro currency is just taking baby steps.

Really wish PCGS would be in Sweden or Germany.
Europe only has one PCGS and it is in France.
It would be so much easier to sell euro coins if they would be in PCGS holders.

Sapyx

@IKU said:
Is the oldest still legal US currency starting from around 1790- ? ( If so US has had +230 years of same currency.)
Amazing every other country usually demonetizes well ahead older coins and paper money.

The only country still using a currency older than America, is Britain More specifically, England. The British reformed their currency in 1970, but they retained the pound as the primary currency unit, merely replacing the old pre-decimal coins with new decimal coins. English coins dating from the 1600s are still theoretically legal tender for their decimal-currency equivalents (a silver shilling of Charles II would get you 5 pence if you banked it), and pound-denominated banknotes issued by the Bank of England likewise would still be redeemable for full face value.