Luxembourg Euro Coins
The smallest member of the EU was one of the EEC's six founding nations in 1957.
Luxembourg has provided two of the European Commission's nine presidents, Gaston Thorn and Jacques Santer. The
Grand Duchy is also known for its pro-European loyalty and a former Luxembourg prime minister, Pierre Werner,
was one of the intellectual fathers of European monetary union. The country's government had been a major player
in ensuring the swift introduction of the euro. Interestingly, in order to join the euro, Luxembourg had to set
up its own central bank. The euro was a project well suited to Luxembourg's traditions as it has been part of a
monetary union with Belgium since the 1920s. Luxembourg is the first member of the Eurozone to have all of their
standard issue circulation coins minted in more than one location and the only member to have had all their
coins minted at three different locations. Please take a look at
The Luxembourg National Mint.
Luxembourg euro coins feature three different designs, though they all contain the portrait or effigy of
Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg. The Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg appears on the coins facing to the left. He
was not featured on the Luxembourgish franc as he only became Grand Duke in 2000 following the abdication of
his father, Jean. Jean's portrait on the francs showed him facing to the right and it is common in a number of
countries for successive monarchs to alternate the direction they faced on coins. Other euro coins issued by
member states which are monarchies show their monarchs facing to the left, in common with the effigy on their
legacy currencies. The designs, by Yvette Gastauer-Claire, also contain the 12 stars of the EU flag, the year of
imprint and the name of the country in the Luxembourgish language: Letzebuerg.
The Luxembourgish 2 euro coin edge inscription
| Edge |
|---|
 |
| |
| The sequence "2 * *" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted |
Mintmarks on Luxembourgish euro coins
Luxembourg does not mint its own coins. Coin production began at the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt, in
Utrecht, Netherlands, in June, 2000, but had the date stamp of 2002. As a result, even though the coins are
dated 2002, they bear the mintmaster's mark of Erik J. van Schouwenburg, the temporary director of the mint
in 2000. The coinage act of Luxembourg stipulates that national coins can not have a date stamp prior to the
year of issue. Therefore, Luxembourg euro coins bear the mint master mark of the temporary director at the
time of minting, despite the date on the coins.
| Year |
Designer |
Mint |
Director |
| 2002 |
YGC
Yvette Gastauer-Claire |
The Royal Dutch Mint, a Mercury's Staff |
Bow and arrow rerpesenting the director Erik J. van Schouwenburg |
| 2003, 2004 |
Sailboat representing the director Maarten Brouwer |
| 2005, 2006 |
 'S'
The logo of the Rahapaja Oy mint and the letter S for Suomi (Finland) |
|
| 2007, 2008 |
The Mint of Paris, a Cornucopia |
Hunting horn, a wave and a fish, representing the director Hubert Lariviere |
| 2009 - 2015 |
The Royal Dutch Mint, a Mercury's Staff |
Sailboat representing the director Maarten Brouwer |
| 2016 |
Sailboat rerpesenting the director Kees Bruinsma |
[1] - The star indicates a temporary director