Colored euro coins

As we are moving to a new digitally oriented society, banknotes and coins are displaced as new forms of payment come into play. Debit and credit cards, mobile phones and other promising technologies slowly make the use of coins obsolete allowing for faster and safer transactions. To keep the market for coins alive, the Mints around the world started researching different approaches targeted at various market segments, with coin collectors being constantly in focus.

Diversification started with the release of coins packaged in credit card format (Coin Cards), making them extremely popular with coin collectors. More recently, the first colored coins have been issued, both officially (from National Mints) and unofficially (by coin dealers in association with private mints). Although the original coins (mostly commemorative 2 euro coins) are official, legally they are modified (painted) coins and cannot be used as legal tender.

Though they are not members of the EU, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City (but not Andorra) also have euro coins featuring a national side. These coins only occasionally end up in general circulation as their scarcity leads to greater interest from coin collectors.