New €2 Coin Circulating To Commemorate Spain Taking Over Presidency Of EU Council

A new €2 coin will enter circulation this July, designed specifically to commemorate Spain assuming the rotating Presidency of the EU Council.

According to the Official Journal of the European Union, the coin has been in circulation since July 1. It explained that a total of 1.5 million units will be minted and it will be distributed throughout all the countries belonging to the European Union.

It is the first coin to display the logo of the European Presidency of 2023 on its face. Among its other characteristics are the 12 stars of the European flag surrounding two legends which read ‘Spain 2023-Spanish Presidency’ and ‘Council of the European Union’.

This is accompanied by an image of the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre – Real Casa de la Moneda, along with a crowned M. On the obverse face of the coin, the features and value remain unchanged, as reported by lasprovincias.es.

As detailed on the website of the European Central Bank (ECB), it is only allowed to mint €2 commemorative coins as long as they have the same legal value as the rest of the series in each country.

Each Eurozone country can issue two commemorative coins per year

As a rule, each country that uses the euro can issue two commemorative coins each year. ‘These coins have the same characteristics, properties, and common face as the other €2 coins. What sets them apart is the commemorative motif that appears on their national face’, explained the ECB.

If a country intends to issue a €2 commemorative coin, it must inform the European Commission, but it does not have to report to the ECB. As the website explains, unlike banknotes, euro coins are a national competence and not a competence of the ECB.

These jointly-issued coins have a common design on the national side as well as the name of the issuing country and the event commemorated in the respective national language or languages.

The very first €2 commemorative coin was issued by Greece to celebrate the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.