1 euro coins
| European Union | |
| Value | 1 euro |
|---|---|
| Mass | 7.5 g |
| Diameter | 23.25 mm |
| Thickness | 2.33 mm |
| Edge | Alternating segments, three smooth, three finely ribbed |
| Composition | Outer segment: nickel brass. Inner segment: three layers: copper-nickel, nickel and copper-nickel. |
| Years of minting | 2002–present (from 1999 only for France, Finland, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands; from 2001 only for Monaco) |
| Obverse | |
| Design | 26 variations, see below. |
| Designer | Various |
| Design date | Various |
| Reverse | |
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|
| Design | Map of Europe with the denomination shown in Latin characters |
| Designer | Luc Luycx |
| Design date | 2007 |
The 1 euro coin is a euro coin with a value of one euro (€1). It is made of two alloys: the inner part of cupronickel, the outer part of nickel brass. All coins have a common reverse side and country-specific national sides. The coin has been used since 2002, with the present common side design dating from 2007.
As of July 2015, there were approximately 6.7 billion one euro coins in circulation, constituting 26.4% of all circulated euro coins by value and 5.9% by quantity.
The coin dates from 2002, when euro coins and banknotes were introduced in the 12 member Eurozone and its related territories. The common side was designed by Luc Luycx, a Belgian artist who won a Europe-wide competition to design the new coins. The design of the one and two euro coins was intended to show the European Union (EU) as a whole with the then 15 countries more closely joined together than on the 10 to 50 cent coins (the 1 to 5 cent coins showed the EU as one, though intending to show its place in the world).
There were then 15 versions of the national sides (eurozone + Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican who could mint their own) and in each case there was a national competition to decide the design, which had to comply with uniform specifications, such as the requirement to include twelve stars (see euro coins). National designs were not allowed to change until the end of 2008, unless a monarch (whose portrait usually appears on the coins) died or abdicated. This happened in Monaco and the Vatican City, resulting in three new designs in circulation (the Vatican had an interim sede vacante design until the new Pope was elected). National designs have seen some changes, as they are now required to include the name of the issuing country: previously neither Finland nor Belgium showed this. As of 2010[update], Austria, Germany and Greece are obliged to change their designs due this requirement in the future.
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