On Wednesday (16 May) the European Commission and the European Central Bank will present their new convergence reports for Cyprus and Malta. Both countries want to introduce the euro on 1 January 2008, and it seems that both meet the convergence criteria. The final decision will be made by the EU Council based on these reports. These are the changeover plans of the two countries - well, the parts that may be interesting for money collectors.

CYPRUS
* Three different coin designs
From left to right: 1, 2, 5 cent // 10, 20, 50 cent // 1, 2 euro
// //

* Current central ERM-II rate: 1 EUR = 0.585274 CYP
* Euro coins (total value 100.26 million) will be minted by the Mint of Finland (Rahapaja)
* Euro notes (total value 1,730 million) will be "borrowed" from existing Eurosystem stocks
* Starter kits for the general public will be available as from 3 Dec 2007
* Dual CYP+EUR circulation period: 1-31 Jan 2008
* Pound coins can be redeemed for two years
* Pound notes can be redeemed for ten years
* More information:
http://www.centralbank.gov.cy/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=4704
http://www.euro.cy/
http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php?showtopic=2371

MALTA
* Three different coin designs
From top to bottom: 1, 2, 5 cent // 10, 20, 50 cent // 1, 2 euro




* Current central ERM-II rate: 1 EUR = 0.429300 MTL
* Euro coins (total number approx. 200 million) will be minted by the French Mint (Monnaie de Paris)
* Euro notes (total number approx. 80 million) will be "borrowed" from existing Eurosystem stocks
* Starter kits for the general public will be available as from 10 Dec 2007
* Dual MTL+EUR circulation period: 1-31 Jan 2008
* Lira coins can be redeemed for two years
* Lira notes can be redeemed for ten years
* More information:
http://mfin.gov.mt/page.aspx?site=NECC&page=maltesecoins
http://euro.gov.mt/
http://www.coinpeople.com/index.php?showtopic=6541

Please notes that the volume of the coins and notes is expressed in "total value" for Cyprus, and in "total number of pieces" for Malta.

Christian

Thanks for the info Christian, have to say quite nice looking designs. Wonder how they will go down with the local population, when I was in Malta earlier this year the general concensus from those I spoke to was they did not want the Euro LOL

Well, they could quite simply have stayed out of the European Union. Or follow the example of Sweden which does not have an opt-out clause like the "pre-Maastricht" members DK and UK but stays out of the currency union anyway.

Basically I do not care much whether Cyprus and/or Malta keep their currencies or join Euroland; that is up to them. But of course it is always neat to see new designs. And yes, these are nice. Sure, I would have preferred eight different designs per country, but what they picked sure looks better than some of the existing designs, hehe.

"PS" - Below are the planned mintages (in million coins) for Cyprus. Note the relatively low number of 1 cent coins. That may be due to the currently smallest denomination, the 1 (£-)cent coin, being worth about 2 (€-)cent ...

1c: 26m
2c: 100m
5c: 60m
10c: 70m
20c: 65m
50c: 30m
€1: 28m
€2: 16m

Christian

Like these designs, especially Malta. I prefer these to the Slovenian releases earlier this year.

The problem I fidn with the Slovenian ones is that although they are nice designs there doesn't seem to be an consistancy with them unlike Cyprus, Malta and most of the other countries

And the vote of this belgian jury goes to the Cyprus 50 cent in Nordic Gold
( And no I do not know who won the Euro Song Contest because I did not look )

And Malta seems to use their cross on and on
I have one on the back of the Lady Di coin of the Knights of Malta

The Winner is





Serbia

Yes and on the news they said Russia was third
second was an eastblock too
This is probably one of the last Eurosong contests cause the old euro countries are fed up by
political voting of eastblock countries

Eurovision Final Positions

01 Serbia
02 Ukraine
03 Russia
04 Turkey
05 Bulgaria
06 Belarus
07 Greece
08 Armenia
09 Hungary
10 Moldova
11 Bosnia & Herzegovina
12 Georgia
13 Romania
14 FYR Macedonia
15 Slovenia
16 Latvia
17 Finland
18 Sweden
19 Germany
20 Spain
21 Lithuania
22= France
22= United Kingdom
24 Ireland

Talk about rigged votting LOL


PS just to get you all excited for next year

Eurovision 2008 In Serbia


Big 4 are automatically qualified for the Final
Spain
Germany
France
The United Kingdom,

Top 10 this year qualify for the Final
01 Serbia
02 Ukraine
03 Russia
04 Turkey
05 Bulgaria
06 Belarus
07 Greece
08 Armenia
09 Hungary
10 Moldova

And 10 from the Semi finals make up the 24


Do you think that Serbia will bring out a coin to Commemerate such a achievement !!

In a German newspaper article I read a great suggestion. The 16 states that form the Federal Republic of Germany will become independent; Belgium will be replaced by Flanders, Wallonia and Great Brussels; instead of the UK there will be England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; the regions in Spain and Italy could become countries too. All or most of them would continue to be parts of the EU, so in practical politics hardly anything would change ... but imagine the new voting opportunities for the Eurovision Song Contest!

To be fair, I did not watch the show, and when I heard the winning song today, I was not overwhelmed - nevertheless it was interesting that such an "unspectacular" act had won. Problem with the ESC is that the four biggest financial contributors (networks in France, Germany, Spain and the UK) cannot really attract that many viewers in their countries any more. So there will of course be discussions about whether that "event" should still be broadcast and sponsored.


Wait ... are you talking about coins here? Well, who knows. But I know somebody who would not buy such a thing.

As for the Cyprus designs, yes, I also like the Kyrenia ship best. Don't know how the prehistoric "stuff" (CY: Pomos Idol, MT: Imnajdra Temple) will look on the coins. The Maltese Cross was, interestingly, not among the designs initially suggested for the public vote - but apparently people want to have it on their coins ...

Christian

Update - Today the European Commission published its convergence reports regarding Cyprus and Malta. The Commission recommended that both countries can join the currency union on 1 January.
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/news/h...rus/main_en.htm

Some members of the European Parliament criticized that at this stage neither of the two countries fully meets all criteria. The "decision parameters" should be further discussed. The final decision, however, is not made by the Commission or the Parliament but by the Council, ie. the member state governments.

Christian

I saw a report on the BBC on the Telee this morn affirming the same, that they can join on 1 January.

It is official now; Cyprus and Malta can join on 1 January. Earlier this week both the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union agreed.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/.../default_en.htm
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_...cofin/94875.pdf

The final euro conversion rates of the Maltese lira and the Cyprus pound are not known yet. But they will be close to the current ERM-II central rates (CYP: 0.585274 / MTL: 0.429300) ...

Christian

Can anyone tell me if there is a restriction on bringing coins/banknotes back from Cyprus as I'm going there next week and would like to get hold of some Cypriot Pounds before it is replaced

I really like all of those coins designs, but where are the knights of St. John on Malta's coinage?

According to this document (from the Cyprus central bank site), you need to declare amounts, in any currency, exceeding 7300 CYP (see Part VI, 15) ...
http://www.centralbank.gov.cy/media/pdf/CE...LMOVEMENT03.pdf

But please do not consider this to be legal advice.

Christian

The "Baptism of Christ by St. John", "Fort St. Angelo", and the "Great Siege Monument" - all with references to the Order of St. John - were among the suggested themes, see http://mfin.gov.mt/image.aspx?site=NECC&am...Coins%20Details (PDF, about 850K). But apparently not enough people voted for them. Of course, had they allowed eight different designs ---

Christian

Don't worry I'm only changing up £350 English into Cypriot Punds, so no worries then

The Mint of Finland has the exclusive right to sell the Euro-BU-Sets of Cyprus next year.
Loose Coins and perhaps Starter-Kits sells the Central-Bank of Cyprus directly.

Greetings
El Buitre

These are the euro conversion rates for Cyprus and Malta that the Council agreed upon today:

Cyprus pound: 1 EUR = 0.585274 CYP
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/public...a_cyprus_en.htm

Maltese lira: 1 EUR = 0.429300 MTL
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/public...ea_malta_en.htm

Not exactly surprising after all: The final rates are the same as the central ERM-II rates ...

Christian

After returning from Cyprus just this morning & experiencing their outgoing coins I have to say it's a shame they didn't use the design that was on the 50p coin. I managed to get one of each design (1p-50p) & will try to scan these later, along with a £1, £5 & £10 note. I will, of course make a seperate thread rather than hijack this one

Yep, that is a very nice one. Problem is, the main part of the design shows Europa on the Bull (Zeus). And that is what Greece has on the €2 coins ...

Christian

Ah I have just seen it, prefer the Cypriot version though, glad I got a few of them. BTW Tabbs, not sure if you know at all or not, but why did they change the 20p from the bird (partridge?) to a head of that male (don't know who he is)?

As for why they changed that, I have no idea. The newer coin shows the philosopher Zeno who was born in Cyprus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno_of_Citium The design may have been inspired by the philosophers on some Greek drachma circulation coins.

Just checked my catalog; it says that the Cyprus 50 cent coin shows Europa as depicted on a coin from the 4th century BC (city-kingdom of Marion). The name of king Timocharis, in syllable script, appears on the coin. The scene on the Greek coin was designed after a mosaic from Sparta.

Christian

Sad to see Cypriot banknotes go, I have always loved their designs.

I like that design but I got fed up with getting dozen's of them back, if a shop over there didn't have any five pound notes & you only had a Tenner on you for something worth £1.50 it was a pain in the ar*e. The akward look I got in one of the arcades as well when asking to change a £20 up. I asked for a £10 note, £5 note & £5's worth of 50p's (this would not normally be a problem in the UK) but she question as to why I wanted them I told them why & she gave me a £10 note, £5 note, x3 £1 Notes & £2's worth of 20p's, I still had to change up some £1 notes for 50p's anyway:angry:

Alot of the time also they seemed to be reluctant to give you coins, asking you if you had any in change, considering their newest circulating ones I saw over there were 2004 perhaps they stopped the a year too early & they have shortages. It does baffle me as to why they still had £1 notes though

Sounds a bit like Greece before the euro change. We used nearly no coins as well for the last 6 or 7 years. It even went so far that if you bought something at a supermarket and should be getting 20 or 50 Drachmes back, they just didn't bother. After the euro and for some months people still continued dealing with coins like that. Needless to say that it stung when they realized that a 2 euro coin is worth about 600 or 700 Drachmes.

One wonders that Cyprus will be another country along with Italy that wants a €1 note?

Habits die hard. I saw this in China, in Beijing and Nanchang coins were the rule, up to 1 Yuan, but then in Guangzhou, they did not like coins apparently and everybody was using paper money with values as low as 1 Fen, or 1/10th of a USA cent. The notes were sometimes in pretty nasty shape. I kept all the small change including paper money and I will have to take a picture of it sometime. The interesting thing in Guangzhou was that paper money dated 1980 and 1990 was still fairly common, whereas in the other cities most of the paper money was the 2005 series.





2 Jiao, 1980 series, only ever got one of these in change. This is the equivalent of 2¢ in US$





The smallest note, a 1 Fen, these are for the most part not used except very occasionally now.

As far as I know the 1€ note talk is off the table. Greece was asking for one as well and so was Belgium, if I remember correctly. Or was it Luxenburg?

Italy has been wanting one, because of the 1000 and 2000 Lira notes.

It's strange, it's seems that the alot of countries like their 1 & 2 (insert currency here) banknotes rather than coins, where on the flip side people in the UK are starting to question whether or not the £5 note should be replaced by a coin.

Have to say (as I may have done above already) that I found the £1 note, although rather nice, a pain in the a*se and also, rather oddly the 20c coin, they are rather big & seemed to be the only coint they liked giving you in change, rare if you got a 50c coin, although I did come home with 7 of which 5 were different years one of my favourite world coins

I guess it has something to do with how the prices for everyday shopping on the market develop and how the currency evolves along that. Even though we had different coins and small notes in Greece, after devaluations of the Drachma in the 80s, the real value of coins became minimal. For the whole of the 90s we had coins that were mostly still legal (except for the 1, 2 and 5 dr which were discontinued at some point) but not used and worth absolutely nothing. Only the new 100 dr coin was really used and that mostly for cigarettes and newspapers. So for 10 years we were under the impression that notes are money and coins are pieces of metal of little worth. The most frequent values in a wallet became the 1000 and 5000 dr.

Only after the last devaluation of the Drachma did they start producing 500 dr. coins. That was one year before the euro.

Same in Germany and the €5 note (and keep in mind that €5 is even less than £5). But it seems we won't get any for the time being ...

In Euroland, only the governments of Greece and Italy wanted low value (€1, €2) notes. As for Italy, well, when Berlusconi was out of office, that idea apparently was dropped too. Some time ago the Slovakian government suggested rag euros but the country is not even a member of the currency union yet.

Christian

I do remember the 5 Mark notes, and they came out with a new issue ca. 1990-91. But the 5 Mark coin was as Tabbs noted, much more popular. I even found that 10 Mark silver commems were not completely uncommon in circulation, I got some in change counters, and spent them also. Only time I have ever spent silver - just for the thrill of it.

In France before the Euro it was not too unusual to have 100 FF coins, at the time worth about €14 or so. They were a crown size coin, usually a commemorative - but I never spent them and only saved them as souvenirs. The older larger 50 FF coins had been demonetized after some time and were often being sold for 40FF etc. - the melt value of the coin basically.

Ah so the two countries who had 100's & 1000's for currency wanted them, that explains everything

Finally found it. Belgium was for a one euro note as well. At least Guy Quaden, the governor of the central bank and 53% of the Belgians.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/euro/story/0,11306,865595,00.html

[...]Guy Quaden, the governor of the central bank, is one of those who favour the creation of a one euro note to rival the US dollar. 53% of Belgians agree with him but far more, 78%, would like to see the abolition of the tiny copper one and two cent coins which clutter people's wallets and purses.[...]

Well, what euro denominations we would have, which coins and which notes etc., was decided almost ten years ago (in mid-1998). That article is from late 2002, and now we have mid-2007. And while I find it fairly normal that, less than a year after the € cash became legal tender, people had not quite adapted to the new money yet, it was and would still be IMO silly to say that we need such low value notes because the USD has low value notes. Seems we do just fine without them.

Christian

And the USD low value notes only get lower lower lower it is becoming play money.

I believe some countries, and Greece is definitely one of them, did not prepare themselves for the euro. I remember the mess with the new prices and new currency in Greece, while the transition was running much better here in Germany. The Greeks, and I mean the everyday consumer, had absolutely no idea what they had in their hands. That is why none of them complained in the first months when the supermarket would just not give you your 50 euro cent or your euro change. It was pure negligence by the government, the people and the banks. If you consider that when the starter kits came out, the banks were actually selling them to people for more money than what was inside (the EU had to intervene) it becomes a bit understandable.

The initiative from Greece (and Italy, I think) for a 1 euro note also came after the change, or at least that is when they really started talking about it.

Ah, my fellow Greek compatriots. Corrupt to the bone!

Banks charging a fee for starter kits, that is indeed odd (to put it mildly). In other cases the problems were due to that perception you mentioned - coins being something that is basically worthless, etc. Well, we all learn from mistakes (hopefully ), and it seems that in Slovenia great emphasis was put on the fact that, contrary to the tolar coins, the euro pieces do represent some value ...

Hope that the transition in the two new euro countries will be smooth. Yesterday the European Commission presented its latest preparations report ("Fifth report on the practical preparations for the future enlargement of the euro area", http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/public...m2007_434en.pdf) - these are the country specific conclusions:

(CY) While Cyprus achieved progress in its practical preparations for the introduction of the euro, it should speed them up. Particular attention should be given to the effective and country-wide implementation of the Fair Pricing Code and of the communication campaign on the euro.

(MT) Malta's practical preparations for the introduction of the euro are very well advanced. The country's communication activities on the euro are exceptionally comprehensive and of a very high quality. Malta should maintain the current momentum of its preparations with a view to an efficient and smooth changeover.

The details can be found in the report. It also covers Slovakia (which aims at joining in 2009) and, in a brief overview, the status of the other member states. The "public opinion" part at the end is also quite interesting.

Christian

Nice! I wonder if Malta and Cyprus have really achieved the conditions for joining the monetary union. They wouldn't be the first countries to join by cheating their way in. If I remember correctly, Malta will join even though the country only nearly fulfills the conditions. Maybe Cyprus is using the Greek method: lie your way in.

Can't wait to get my hands on their euro coins. I usually don't collect euros, but these two have some nice coin types.

Well, I won't argue here about how much sense those euro convergence criteria actually make. But it's not up to a single member state to ignore them if that country wants to join the currency union ...

However, some criteria are "softer" or more flexible than others. Public debt, for example, is limited to 60% of the gross domestic product (GDP) qua euro rules - in 2006 Cyprus had something like 63%, Malta 66%. But in both cases the figures have been going downward. (That was different when Lithuania was not allowed in, even though the country almost met the criteria: the inflation figures "pointed" up, and did go up afterwards.) Also, both CY and MT easily meet criteria such as budget deficit and inflation rates.

Of course, if a government deliberately "cheats" in order to be allowed in, that is hard to check. But I guess that the European institutions (ECB, Commission, etc.) now try and check a little more thoroughly. And if I was cynical, I might say that a relatively small country could not do that much damage anyway. For example, I am more concerned about Sarkozy's "elastic" attitude regarding the stability criteria than about whether Malta's public debt will be 60 or 65 percent of the GDP this year ...

That being said yes, I like the designs from Cyprus and Malta too. Eight would have been better than three, but what they picked is fine. Guess I would have put the Pomos Idol on the "medium" denominations and the ship on the €1+2 coins ... oh well, their business. Hope I can soon get those pieces!

Christian

I share your fears about Sarkozy. This guy spooks me in general. His Europe parade on their national holiday was very peculiar to say the least. Reminded me of the... "good old days".

Well, we may get lucky and the reason why they only used 3 reverse types is so they can make many many many nice special 2 € coins. There are some nice mosaics in Cyprus that I would love to see on a coin... if such a thing is possible.

Here you can buy your very first Cyprus €2 coin.

http://www.huuto.net/fi/showitem.php3?itemid=59120876

Hmmmm, the coins were/are made in Finland, and huuto.net is a Finnish auction site ...

Christian

And here we have somebody from Malta who just (on Sat 1 Dec) got his very first Maltese euro and cent coins.


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2409/207708...53a14b7.jpg?v=0


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2373/207787...ca622f8.jpg?v=0

(Not my pictures.) I will sure buy them, but I also hope that next year I will come across some from Cyprus and Malta in circulation ...

Christian

I want

Nice coins, I'll be looking out for those on ebay

And here is somebody with a €2 coin from Cyprus in his hand. No idea why it already looks that worn ...


http://www.aijaa.com/img/00100/1291501.jpg

Cyprus started distributing starter kits for both retailers and the general public today (3-Dec). Malta made the kits for retailers available on 1-Dec and will start distributing the kits for individuals on 10-Dec. So I suppose it will take a few more days until we can get those pieces. Or, if you don't need/want them as Christmas presents, wait until after New Year's Day. They should be much more easily available then.

Christian

Nice, perhaps he's been "testing" it out amongst other circulated coisn to see how they wear.

Shame they didn't used the obverse design from the outgoign coins on one of the designs

Some of the current (£) designs I like a lot, like the bird (1 cent), the "vase goats" (2 cents) and Europa with the bull (50 cents). OK, the latter is already on the Greek €2 piece, so "repeating" it may not make much sense. Otherwise - well, maybe they wanted something new. What I do find strange (and somewhat saddening from a collector's point of view) is that the new Cyprus euro coins have only three designs for eight denominations. Sure, various euro countries use that setup. But both the current Cyprus coins, and the euro coins of neighboring Greece, have an "individual" design for each denomination ...

Christian

True, the 1c & 2c were great, glad I got hold of a few on the last couple of days of my holiday in Cyprus

Ordered as set of the Cyprus ones off of ebay, Malta's are a bit more expenisve, will post pics once I get them