2 euro commemorative coins

Commemorative coins shall bear a different national design from that of the regular coins and shall only commemorate subjects of major national or European relevance. Commemorative coins issued collectively by all Member States whose currency is the euro shall only commemorate subjects of the highest European relevance and their design shall be without prejudice to the possible constitutional requirements of these Member States. The 2-euro coin constitutes the most suitable denomination for this purpose, principally on account of the large diameter of the coin and its technical characteristics, which offer adequate protection against counterfeiting. The basis for the euro coins is derived from a European recommendation from 2003, which allowed changing the national obverse sides of euro coins from 1 January 2004 onwards. Regarding them, a series of restrictions apply: • 0.1% of the total number of €2 coins put into circulation by all members of the eurozone. This limit can exceptionally be increased to up to 2.0 per cent if the coin commemorates a very important and noteworthy event; in this case, the member state issuing this higher number of coins should refrain from putting any commemorative coins into circulation for the following four years. • 5.0% of the total number of €2 coins put into circulation by the member state issuing the €2 commemorative coin. Since 2005, the recommendations for the design of the national sides of all the coins have been modified, which has also affected the designs of the €2 commemorative coins of the following years. See euro coins for more information. The different States must inform each other of the new draft designs (both of the "regular" coins and the 2 euro commemorative coins) as well as the European Council and the European Commission, which must give their approval. One consequence of the above was the case of the 2 euro commemorative coin that Belgium planned to issue in 2015 on the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, which caused complaints from France and Belgium's resignation from issuing such a coin. However, Belgium issued a collector's coin of 2.50 euros, taking advantage of the fact that these coins are not submitted to the prior information of their draft designs. A Dutch law, which requires the portrait of the current head of state of the Netherlands and the words to appear on all coins issued by the Netherlands (for example, currently ) was amended in 2007, so that the Netherlands could take part in the issuing program of the "50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome" common €2 commemorative coin, issued by all eurozone member states; the amendment completely removed the requirement for €2 commemorative coins. == Issues ==

20 members of the eurozone (all except Bulgaria) and four microstates (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City) have independently issued €2 commemorative coins, with Greece being the first country to do so. The four microstates which also use the euro due to an official agreement with the European Union, do not issue the common €2 commemorative coins, issued by all the other eurozone members to commemorate events of Europe-wide importance, as they are not member states of the European Union. There have also been five common €2 commemorative coins issued by all eurozone member states: • : 50 years since the Treaty of Rome in 2007. • : 10 years of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union in 2009. • : 10 years of Euro Coins and Banknotes in 2012. • : 30 years of the Flag of Europe in 2015. • : 35 years of the Erasmus Programme in 2022. Three joint issues: • : 50th anniversary of the signing of the Élysée Treaty (2013) – two coins. • : 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall (2019) – two coins. • : The 100th anniversary of the foundation of the independent Baltic states (2018) – three coins. Fifteen coins series with a specific theme: • : Croatian Cities (2024–future) – coins representing Croatian cities. • : Estonian National Symbols (2021–future) – coins representing national symbols of Estonia. • : 2024 Summer Olympics (2021–2024) – one coin per year representing sports at the 2024 Summer Olympics. • : • Bundesländer I (2006–2022) – one coin per year for each of the 16 States of the Federal Republic of Germany. • Bundesländer II (2023–2038) – one coin per year for each of the 16 States of the Federal Republic of Germany. • Unity, Justice and Freedom (2025–present) – one coin per year representing politicians who have made a significant contribution to the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. • : Latvian Historical Regions (2016–2025) – one coin for each of the five Historical Latvian Lands. • : Lithuanian Ethnographical Regions (2019–2025) – one coin for each of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. • : Luxembourgish Grand-Ducal Dynasty (2004–future) – coins representing the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg. • : • Maltese constitutional history (2011–2015) – one coin per year representing events of the constitutional history of Malta. • Maltese Prehistoric Sites (2016–2022) – one coin per year representing the Megalithic Temples of Malta and the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum. • From Children in Solidarity (2016–2020) – one coin per year about the solidarity, with children's designs. • Maltese Walled Cities (2024–future) – one coin per year representing Maltese walled cities. • Maltese Native Species (2024–future) – one coin per year representing Maltese native species. • : Spanish UNESCO World Heritage Sites (2010–future) – one coin per year representing Spain's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. } || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || Issued designs are made public in the Official Journal of the European Union. Although the volume and issue date of the coins are listed in the official journal, the actual figures sometimes deviate considerably from those published. 2004 coinage 2005 coinage 2006 coinage 2007 coinage 2007 commonly issued coin 2008 coinage 2009 coinage 2009 commonly issued coin 2010 coinage 2011 coinage 2012 coinage 2012 commonly issued coin 2013 coinage 2014 coinage 2015 coinage 2015 commonly issued coin 2016 coinage 2017 coinage 2018 coinage 2019 coinage 2020 coinage 2021 coinage 2022 coinage 2022 commonly issued coin 2023 coinage 2024 coinage 2025 coinage 2026 coinage == References ==