The official site of Italy's central bank

Coins

Common Side

In June 1997, the designs of Luc Luycx of the Royal Belgian Mint were chosen for the common side of euro coins. They represent three different geographical maps of Europe.

The map on the first three coins (1, 2, and 5 cents) shows Europe in the world; the map on the 10, 20, and 50 cent coins shows the Union as a group of nations. To highlight the concept of unity, the 15 member states are shown as a single block on the 1 and 2 euro coins.

On 7 June 2005, the Council of the European Union decided to change the common sides of the 10, 20 and 50 cent coins as well as those on the €1 and €2 coins, which represent the Union before the enlargement from 15 to 25 Member States, so that in the future all the Member States will be represented. The new common sides can be applied as of 2007 and current EU members must adopt them before the end of 2008 as described in the EU Official Journal 2006/C 225/05.