Availability of Euro Coins

Euro Coins Index

Common Reverse Design of the 2 Euro Coin

Common Reverse Design of the 1 Euro Coin

Common Reverse Design of the 50 Euro Cent Coin

Common Reverse Design of the 20 Euro Cent Coin

Common Reverse Design of the 10 Euro Cent Coin

Common Reverse Design of the 5 Euro Cent Coin

Common Reverse Design of the 2 Euro Cent Coin

Common Reverse Design of the 1 Euro Cent Coin

Availability & Shipping Dates for Euro Coins

31st January 2002
Updated 13th February 2002

Staggering Success Causes Delays

Available Now - All 12 Main Countries
We received our first delivery of Irish Euro coins on Tuesday 8th January.
Austrian, Irish, German, Greek, Italian, Luxembourg and Portugal 2002 sets are now in stock for immediate delivery. We can ship all orders for these countries from stock.

Also Available - Mixed Dates - 5 Countries
We have mixed date sets of Belgium, Finland, France, Netherlands and Spain. We can ship these immediately if you don't mind having a "type set" instead of a "date set". If you prefer to have a single-date set, this will take longer, and we cannot at this stage give a shipping date. Finland have not issued 1 and 2 cents for circulation, but we have managed to acquire sufficient coins to supply all our existing orders, so will be shipping out complete Finnish coin sets soon.

So, What's The Problem?
Thoughout the Eurozone, demand for Euro notes and coins has been much stronger and sooner than expected. Most people were queuing up at banks to get hold of them, and banks were giving priority to their existing customers. We had in place a two stage plan for getting our Euro coins. The first stage was to get a modest quantity, below 1,000 sets, to fill our immediate orders. We were hoping to receive this between December 24th 2001 and January 4th 2002. This has been slightly delayed because of general demand, but also because all the security firms have been fully occupied ferrying large quantities of coins and notes to banks to replenish their stocks. This has delayed our agents who were handling transport arrangements for our first tranche. The second stage was for us to get larger quantities within a few weeks of the launch day, when demand was a little easier. This has not been as easy as we hoped either, and we are still working on further supplies for most countries.

We expected to receive some supplies of Euro coins in December 2001, as early as Monday 24th December.
Because Christmas is a busy period for everyone, this date has slipped slightly, and the slight delay on the part of our carriers, has thrown this date back. Because it was almost impossible to get anything done in the gap between Christmas and New Year, this meant a delay to the 2nd January 2002.
We were hoping to be shipping our "own" Euro sets by the end of the first week in January 2002, this has now been put back about one week, but we would prefer at this stage to be conservative and promise shipping "during January", that way we will not let anybody down.

Official Sets
Irish official sets have now arrived, so we can deliver from stock, but please note these are now sold out at the mint, and we are unable to obtain more.
We are receiving updated information almost every day, and this is being added to the relevant pages of this section with hours. Most countries have indicated "mint" (uncirculated) sets will be available in January. Some countries have not indicated any dates, or whether sets will even be issued. Other countries have not indicated any prices. If this surprises you, it shouldn't. These are governments, government departments, and civil servants we are dealing with here! Some of them like to keep information like this as a state secret. There are also 12 main countries, and 3 minor states, for a total, so far, of 15 states. The EU may be a common market, and the Euro launch may have taken years of planning, but the issue of collector's coin sets is low on each nation's priorities, and is a matter for each individual state to make their own decisions, possibly within an overall policy. Portugal did not release its year 2000 mint coin sets until mid 2001, so don't expect miracles!

Proof Sets
So far we know that Ireland will not be issuing a proof Euro set for 2002, and it will not issue any pre-dated sets either, such as 1999, 2000, or 2001. Other countries of which we can be almost certain will not issue proof sets include Greece, Luxemburg, Monaco, San Marino, Spain, and Vatican. Other countries are likely to issue proof sets, but as yet we had no firm details of pricing or issue dates.

Changes & Updates
As the situation changes almost daily, we are updating our Euro set pages constantly. Most of the information is shown in at least two different places, for example we have pages for 1999 Euro Sets, and each 1999 set is also shown on the page for its individual country.
This is more work for us, but we have chosen to duplicate our work to make things easier for you. We hope you will keep watching this section for updates.

How Soon?
We have shown most of "our" Euro sets as being available during January 2002. In fact, we had hoped to have complete coin sets in stock before the end of December 2001, however, because many businesses close during the Christmas to New Year period, we knew that any delays would put this back to January 2nd at best.
Our packaging is currently in production, although we already have cases for the Irish sets, and a generic case. We expect to have cases for all twelve main countries ready by late December or early January.
Hopefully, we will be able to start shipping complete sets by the first week of January 2002. Because of potential delays around Christmas - New Year, we would prefer to be conservative in our estimates, and only promise to ship "sometime in January".

Euro Coins Starter Packs
The starter packs of Euro coins, started to be released in a small number of states as early as Friday 14th December 2001, including Ireland, Netherlands, France and Germany. The purpose of these packs was, as their name implies, to familiarise the locals with the new coins.

One Per Person
Most countries limited the availability of starter packs to one per person, although some countries may be allowing slightly more. There is a danger that if they are handed out in unlimited quantities to individuals, the supplies could run out, and this would disrupt the education programme. Because of this, we have not attempted to acquire any of these sets.

Bagmarked Coins
The starter packs are packed loosely, therefore the coins they contain are likely to be somewhat bag-marked, and will not be as collectable as coins supplied in rolls or in sets. This is another reason why we would prefer not to be offering these starter packs.

Complete Euro Coin Sets Collection
There will be many who wish to own a complete collection of Euro coins or sets. Others may wish to have all the mint sets, all the proof sets, or both. In many cases, release dates and prices are not yet available, and it may be months before we know the final details of all issues from all the different member states. For those collectors who wish to be certain not to miss any of the issues, we offer a reservation service.

Order Now!
We strongly recommend that you order your Euro coin sets now. The 1999, 2000, and 2001 French official sets have already sold out, as have the Irish sets. If you wait to learn issue dates and prices before placing your order, you may find that the sets are sold out and no longer available. This may sound crazy, but it happens. We as dealers often have to place our orders well in advance, before we have seen the product, and we often only get one chance to order, as many coin issues well out quickly. We try to predict our total demand, and we usually order 2 to 3 times the orders we ourselves have received. Sometimes this is enough, but not always. This is not hype, if you want to be certain about getting Euro coin sets, please order sooner rather than later.

More about the EuroZone

1992 England Pattern ECU's

World Coins & Sets - Who Issued What?

Euro Coins Index