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Who Designed the Euro Coins and Banknotes? EURO BANKNOTES In December 1996, the designs for the euro banknotes were chosen after a contest. The Council of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) put on the contest and chose the winner who was the Austrian artist Robert Kalina. He works at the Oesterreichische National Bank. "Ages and Styles of Europe" was the theme. The winner had windows, gateways, and bridges on each banknote. • The front of each banknote has windows and gateways. These stand for the "European spirit of openness and co-operation." • The twelve stars of the European Union (EU) are also on them. The twelve stars show "dynamism and harmony between European nations." • The backside of each banknote shows a bridge. The bridges show "co-operation and communication between Europe and the rest of the world." • There are seven denominations of the banknote: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500. The 5 euro banknote is the smallest size. The more a banknote is worth, the bigger it gets. Each denomination of banknotes is a different color. • Each one represents a different European architectural style. The designers didn't want a particular bridge or building on the banknotes, because then people would feel the euros would belong to a particular country instead of all the countries. • The banknotes used in each of the euro countries are exactly the same. The European Central Bank website has color photos of all the euro banknotes. The euro 5 is 120 by 62 mm, it is grey, and shows Classical architectural style. The euro 10 is 127 by 67 mm, it is red, and shows Romanesque architectural style. The euro 20 is 133 by 72 mm, it is blue, and shows Gothic architectural style. The euro 50 is 140 by 77 mm, it is orange, and it shows Renaissance architectural style. The euro 100 is 147 by 82 mm, it is green, and it shows Baroque and Rococo architectural style. The euro 200 is 153 by 82 mm, it is yellow-brown, and it shows iron and glass architectural style. The euro 500 is 160 by 82 mm, it is purple, and is done in the Modern 20th century architectural style. • Each paper banknote has these things: In Latin and Greek you can find the name "euro" on the coins The flag of the EU on the back The initials of the country that made it President of the ECB's signature EURO COINS Luc Luycx, who is an artist from Belgium, won a European wide competition organised by the European Commission to design the euro coins. He designed the European common side. The national side is different in each of the twelve countries. • There are 8 euro coins. They come in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 euro cents There is a one euro coin and a two euro coin, too. • The front of the euro coin in each of the EU countries is the same, but the backs are different in each of the countries. • There are two things that are the same on the back of each country's euro coins, though. There are 12 stars around the border of the coin, and the year it was made is on the coin, too. • The bigger the coin is, the more it is worth. The 1 cent euro is the smallest, and the 2 euro is the biggest. The common side of each euro 1, 2, and 5 cent coin has a design that shows Europe's place in the world. (The real euro is smaller than this, but making the image bigger shows the details.) The 10, 20, and 50 cent common side of the euro design show the individual countries of the EU. The 20 cent euro is different because it isn't completely round. It has 7 little indentations. This shape is known as the Spanish Flower, a circle with 7 dents in a regular heptagon. A heptagon has seven sides. The 1 and 2 euro coin design shows the EU without borders. We think it means that people in European countries can cross from one country to another easily and that the European countries have united together. To visit a website that will quickly show the national face of all the euro coins from all 12 countries, click here. To visit a website that shows the common face of all the euro coins, plus lots more infomation, click here.