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Greek 20 euro coins
The poorest member of the EU, Greece saw EMU as an essential step towards achieving its strategic and economic ambitions. In spite of the euro's weakness when Greece entered the euro-zone on January 1 2001, opinion polls showed that some 70 per cent of Greeks were in favour of membership. There was little attachment to the drachma, as europe's second-oldest currency was linked in Greek minds with economic and political backwardness. Greece leveraged the euro to encourage foreign direct investment with a view to the country becoming a business and transport hub, linking south-east Europe with EU markets.
The following 20 euros coins have circulated in Greece since the introduction of the Common European Currency on January 1, 2002:
  | 20 euros - 75th Anniversary of the Bank of Greece The Bank of Greece was established in 1927, a few years after World War I and the Asia Minor Disaster, by an Annex to the Geneva Protocol of September 15, 1927. It began operations on May 14, 1928, under the first Governor Alexandros Diomidis and its 25th and 50th anniversaries (under Governors Georgios Mantzavinos and Xenophon Zolotas, respectively) were celebrated with pomp and circumstance. The official celebration of the Bank of Greece's 75th Anniversary was held on Monday, November 3 in the Athens Concert Hall, in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic Mr. Constantine Stephanopoulos ...
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The size of the images above are related to the diameter of the coins they represent.
Euro collector coin issues
According to the Conclusions of the Ecofin Council meeting on January 31, 2000, to ensure that Euro collector coins will be readily distinguishable from Euro coins intended for circulation, the coins must bide to the following rules:
- The face value of collector coins should be different from that of the coins intended for circulation (i.e. Euro coins cannot have a face value equal to the 8 denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 Euro cent and 1 and 2 Euro)
- Collector coins should not use images, which are similar to the common sides of the euro coins intended for circulation. Furthermore, as far as possible, the designs used should also be at least slightly different from those of the national sides of circulation coins
- Out of colour, diameter and thickness, euro collector coins should differ significantly from the coins intended
for circulation in two respects
- Collector coins should not have a shaped edge with fine scallops, or "Spanish flower"
- The identity of the issuing Member State should be clearly and easily recognisable
Euro collector coins may be sold at or above face value and the approval for the volume of collector coins issue should be sought on an aggregate basis rather than for each individual issue. With respect to collector coins' denominations, that may coincide with the low denominations of euro banknotes, there does not seem to exist any significant risk of substitution. However, Member States should stand ready to consider any demands by the ECB on this matter. While Euro collector coins will have legal tender status in the issuing Member State, the competent authorities (NCBs, Mints or other institutions) should set up temporary arrangements through which owners of euro collector coins issued in other euro area Member States can receive the face value of those coins while bearing the costs related to this transaction.
