Euros Questions

[CoinCrusader42]

I am not that much interested in collecting Euros, however I do have some questions.

When the Euros first came out I purchased a Dansco Album set.  Then, a couple summers back my wife and I went to Europe and brought back probably 100 Euro coins.  I also bought a couple of very attractive commemorative Euros in England and France.

Also, Twoshadows has been kind enough to sell me a few very nice Euros over the past few years.

So, although I don't actively collect them, I do have an interest.

Answers to any of my questions will be appreciated.

1.  What countries have joined the European Community in the last year, and will they mint Euros?

2.  Is there any likelyhood that Great Britain would change its coinage to Euros?

3.  Are any of the commemorative Euros issued into circulation?

4.  What is the most rare, and hardest to come by Euros?  That is, what countries?

5.  Has any country changed its design from the original Euro?

6.  Has the Euro monetary system worked well for the European Community?

Any answers will be appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[Humpybong]

Have a look at this site..........

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E2%82%AC2_commemorative_coins

[Sap]

1.  What countries have joined the European Community in the last year, and will they mint Euros?

Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union on January 1 2007. This, however, does not automatically qualify them to join the euro. There is a long and tedious process of bringing their economies "up to speed", known as the Exchange Rate Mechanism. Only when a country proves it has the ability to maintain it's economy is it allowed to join. Then, of course, there are several members of the Union (like Great Britain) that don't want to join the euro at all.

2.  Is there any likelyhood that Great Britain would change its coinage to Euros?

When the euro was first formed, Britain opted out; the only EU member to do so. The pound is not pegged to the euro. Were it to decide to join the Eurozone, it would be treated the same as a country that had just joined the Union. At the moment, public opinion is still against joining the euro.

3.  Are any of the commemorative Euros issued into circulation?

The 2 euro commemoratives are. Each country is permitted one a year, and there have also been a couple of Europe-wide series of commemoratives. These are recognized as being legal tender throughout the Eurozone, just like any other 2 euro coin. This wikipedia page lists them all. Other denominations of non-standard design are only legal tender in the country that issued them.

4.  What is the most rare, and hardest to come by Euros?  That is, what countries?

That depends on where you are. Coins for each country are released into circulation in those countries, but euros freely cross borders, so you commonly see German euros in France, and vice versa. "Insular" countries not directly connected to other Eurozone countries, like Finland, Ireland and Greece, tend to be harder to find in "mainland" Europe.

5.  Has any country changed its design from the original Euro?

The common design on the reverse has changed, in 2007, to reflect the fact that the Union was now much larger than shown on the old maps. For the national obverses, a new ruling has strongly suggested that coins be redesigned to make it more obvious which countries the coins come from; Finland and Belgium have already changed theirs to comply. Austria, Germany and Greece are yet to do so.

6.  Has the Euro monetary system worked well for the European Community?

You'll have to ask a native, and natives from different parts of Europe may well have different answers. Certainly for tourists and travellers, it means far less hassle with changing money.

[Paint Your Wagon]

Together with the Euro has come a European Union Bank regulation that obliges banks to transfer money to any and all member countries at the price of an internal transfer which is half a euro for me instead of 15 euro before that  (plus 3% money exchange spread ) .
Also I can get euro banknotes from any machine in euroland

Some countries do not really like the euro because the inflation fight is now with the central bank and if France or Italy or Spain want lower intrest rates they are not getting them . Which may be beneficial for them but the politicians do'nt like it .

On the entry and convergence criteria Germany was the most insistent and I seem to remember a newsprogram they do not fulfill the deficit criteria themselves over last year .

England is an island and they want to stay an island which is allright with me because they are buying too many dollar denominated bonds for my liking . Wheather we like it or not France-Germany is the central nucleus around which all others seem to rotate

The coins the most expensive to find are Vatican City I never saw them in my pocket change

http://www.metacrawler.com/info.metac/clickit/search?r_aid=46E56E02993F436FAFDFB5EE196BACB0&r_eop=1&r_sacop=4&r_spf=0&r_cop=main-title&r_snpp=1&r_spp=3&qqn=oxoVB2hr&r_coid=239138&rawto=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_euro_coins

[TwoShadows]

I have owned Vatican City coins but their immediate value far outweighs holding on to them. I can give an example such as;  2002 mint set sold for around $15.00 and they sold for $880.00 three months later. The 2002 proof set sold for around $50.00 and sold for $1,300.00 three months later. The Vatican has raised their rates considerably in the last few years (proof sets near $125.00) so while that has killed the huge profit margin it has also raised the cost of each coin should you sell them seperately. I have seen cents sell as high as $100.00.  As long as there are collectors and religious folks willing to pay such outlandish prices for a piece of Vatican history prices will remain very high. The only thing that may bring a halt to these prices is increased production of Vatican coinage and that is control STRICTLY by the European Union based on the population (If I remember correctly). I would suggest they do just that as Vatican coinage is NOT released into circulation so there is no way it would impact the economy. They are all sold as collector items.

[CoinCrusader42]

The answers above demonstrate one of the reasons this is such a tremendous coin site.

The knowledge!

Thanks to all of you.

 

[RenaL]

Denmark and Sweden have decided to keep their own currencies, the rest are willing to join Eurozone but need to meet some criteria first. .

[CoinCrusader42]

Thank you RenaL!!

 

[Paint Your Wagon]

I read somewhere that employees in Vatican City are paid in Vatican City coin to raise their salary legally without paying taxes
Imagine being paid in rolls of Vatican sity euro coins ( the whole series from 1 cent to two euro )
It is like getting 20 dollar double eagles for salary at 20 dollars a coin

[scottishmoney]

I read somewhere that employees in Vatican City are paid in Vatican City coin to raise their salary legally without paying taxes
Imagine being paid in rolls of Vatican sity euro coins ( the whole series from 1 cent to two euro )
It is like getting 20 dollar double eagles for salary at 20 dollars a coin

A guy out in Las Vegas did that with his employees recently, paying them in $50 AGE's or 1 oz of gold, then only declaring the $50 amounts as their income and his payroll to avoid taxes.  That is where the government gets caught in a lie, the AGE's are certainly not worth $50, but they declare them as such.  Of course the IRS is always right, the one instance where you are guilty until proven innocent(in contravention of the US constitution which provides that you are innocent until proven guilty)

[TwoShadows]

The IRS is truly a work of art and NO ONE thinks like they do. A few years back my accountant accidently typed in a 6 where it should have been a 2 in my total income for the year. To make a long story short I paid taxes on $620 dollars I did NOT make that year. But, the IRS comes along 3 years later, claiming I owed them that $620 because they issued me a refund that year? I asked, after months of fighting with them, how much difference would there be in the refund and I would return that amount to them. They would NOT tell me one way or another but did threaten to take immediate action to place a lein on all my holdings and assets until they received the amount they claimed was due. I am still scratching my head wondering how my paying them $620 MORE on the $620 mistake, which was income I did not make that year, made all of this right? At NO time did they mention I had the right to file an amended return for the year but they did stress I could, for another $45.00 fee, start to make payments on the $620 I owed them? I got so frustrated over this mess but finally forked over the $620 as the day of seizure approached. They were down right nasty, threatening and wrong on this one! If I didn't make the money how could I owe that same exact amount to the IRS? The way I see it, I did not make the $620 in the first place, which I paid taxes on, and then I had to pay them the $620 so now I am $1,240 in the hole for a typo??? Go figure!

[Paint Your Wagon]

Yes but to start with it is the accountants who are dangerous

We have now an electronic taxdeclaration system which I refuse to employ
I have a friend who uses an accountant and he lost his two children in the taxdeclaration . The accountant claims they were submitted the taxpeople claim the electronic form that arrived did not have them . That is a 5% taxdifference per child

Our house doctor he uses an accountant who is allways devising impossible plans to double his fees
Last idiot thing he dreamed up was to disavow one of his 4 children at university and make her ask for a cost of living subsidy . The taxpeople rightly refused to accept because there was no prove whatsoever he really disavowed this daughter

Our system is simple : you pay the taxpeople and then you file a complaint . About four years later you get back the money having lost four years of intrest on the money .

[scottishmoney]

Hmm, I have an accountant that informs me of how to legally shelter income and assets from IRS, not trying to cost me more money, but save me money   He is also is a firm believer in that narsty noble metal.

[Paint Your Wagon]

Hmm, I have an accountant that informs me of how to legally shelter income and assets from IRS, not trying to cost me more money, but save me money   He is also is a firm believer in that narsty noble metal.

For 5 years I had my own firm inporting womens clothing from doux Paris.
Since I have an MBA I did all accounting myself apart from the VAT declarations for which I used a drunken experienced finagler 
I was very good at the expenses side of the equation and paying myself for all the work I did 
Then I went self declared bankrupt and the old system allowed to choose at the beginning taxes in personal or company name .
I had chosen personal so the losses were offset by all the taxes the company I worked for had paid in my name .
Helas this option is no longer legally available .
I have done my tax declarations all my life with the help of a nice booklet from the consumer organisation which explains very clearly where the legal lines are ( as if I did not know )
I have sucessfully reclaimed wrong taxation all by myself once were they taxed me 65% for working for the goverment for a few days and the jurisprudence said that if you did that only 3 days in 5 years it was considered as a training conference at 33% only . The difference was enough to pay for a lifetime subscription 

[S.George]

 

Sir CoinCrusader42:

Question No. 4

Next to Vatican City, Monaco, San Marino Coins are rare.
Vatican coins could not be found in circulation. When my son visited Vatican City, he could not find any coins in circulation.  
I do have few coins of Vatican City, without 1-c and 2-cents.
I understand, the Finland 1-c and 2-c coins are also rare.
They are not available in circulation.  Banks also say, low mintage and no stock for distribution.  When my son, went there, he could not bring 1-c and 2-c coins of Finland.
Have you tried the 10-Euro coins of Germany.
They are issuing 5/6 coins per year to commemorate, events.
They are WONDERFUL to collect.
I am collecting them, regularly.    On the issue day, you can get at face value of 10Euros.   After that you have to pay minimum 15 Euros for a coin.
Worth to collect them
George

[Paint Your Wagon]

Some North Euro countries considered making 5 cents the lowest circulating denomination
I guess Finland went ahead and did it
Belgium is considering to abolish the 1 and 2 cent coins but they got their usual problems between Flanders Brussels and Wallonia so they have no time for anything other then government survival 

Yesterday Flanders was condemned by a european commission of experts for refusing to accept 3 frenchspeaking mayors in flemish towns
They quoted something like the local authority guideline and refused to take into account flemish language laws .
Well they can go back to where they came from and try not to burn their hands on their too hot thee 

[CoinCrusader42]

Thanks for the information George.  If I ever get my present collections finished, I may well turn to Euros.

I have several nice commerorative Euros, provided by Twoshadows some time ago.