The Slovenian government has announced the designs of the country's euro and cent coins. Here is the press release:
http://www.uvi.si/eng/slovenia/news/id/?&i...125709600340AF8

If that link does not work, go to the overview page
http://www.uvi.si/eng/slovenia/news/
and click on "Central Bank Unveils Layout of Slovenian Euro Coins"

There will be eight different designs, one for each denomination. Images of the coins have apparently not been released yet, but here are some pictures of what will be depicted:

2 euro: Poet France Preseren and part of his manuscript of the Slovenian anthem
http://aes.iupui.edu/rwise/banknotes/slove...onatedmjd_f.jpg

1 euro: Primoz Trubar, the author of the first printed book in Slovenian
http://aes.iupui.edu/rwise/banknotes/slovenia/slv011_f.jpg

50 ct: The Triglav, Slovenia's highest mountain
http://www.uvi.si/img/photo/slovenia/medium/001.jpg

20 ct: Two Lipizzaner horses (OK, this picture shows only one ...)
http://www.uvi.gov.si/img/photo/slovenia/medium/086.jpg

10 ct: Architect Joze Plecnik's blueprint for the parliament building
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm..._Plecnik_si.jpg

5 ct: Ivan Grohar's "The Sower"
http://zerogravity.mg-lj.si/images/Groharsejalec1907.jpg

2 ct: The Prince's Stone (a little odd since the stone is in what today is Carinthia, Austria)
http://www.landesmuseum-ktn.at/Landesmusee...enstein220.jpeg
http://www.uvi.gov.si/eng/slovenia/photos/.../110/index.html

1 ct: A stork. You know, one of those big black and white birds
http://www.slovenia-tourism.si/pictures/pr...66_lendava1.jpg

Christian

And here are the pictures of the coin designs.
Not bad actually ...

http://www.rtvslo.si/modload.php?&c_mod=rn...nu=1&c_id=89992

Christian

Not bad!

A few of them are interesting. However, I do not find the designs to be very harmonious as a whole.

Well, the bimetallic and Nordic Gold pieces all have one inner and one outer "text ring", so that could be considered a common design element. The €1 coin I actually find a little full, and the Sower looks a little like the girl from the Star Thalers (Grimm Brothers), but by and large I like them. Of course these images look quite "photographic", not like actual coins yet ...

Christian

Here is a brochure/folder from the Slovenian central bank which has some more (slightly different) images of the pieces. It also explains what will be depicted on the coins:

http://www.bsi.si/html/eng/projects/euro/evro01.pdf
(English, PDF file ~6 megs)

Christian

And so it continues, my favorite collecting countries going to the euro. Bimets.

I like the way the dates are set up on the €1 and €2 coins. On some of the others, the placement looks too random and not harmonious IMO, especially on €0.50 and €0.20 pieces. It works fine on the €0.05 and okay on the €0.02 and €0.01. The €0.10 is more traditional.

Another cool design gone to the new "Big Brother"...

@Tiffibunny: I also like the current Slovenian coin designs, especially the fish, the steinbock and the owl. But apparently they want something different for the euro coins ... And you can always decide to not collect the €1 and €2 pieces. Lithuania, however, already has bimetallic coins anyway.

@Sir Sisu: The way the year is placed on the coins may be one of those details that will change later anyway. Having it in two lines is a neat idea but makes it difficult to read especially on smaller pieces ...

@gxseries: Nah, I don't think Slovenia has any plans to join the US.

Christian

@tabbs: Who said the US has to be the big brother? I was thinking the EU as the new big brother

Yes, I know what you meant. So? I don't think that Slovenia, or any other member state, was forced to join the European Union. Countries that want to stay out will stay out. And countries that have become member states can leave the EU. Don't quite understand why you have a problem with that, but I also believe that such "the-EU-is-an-evil-empire" debates belong elsewhere ...

Christian

I don't think I have mentioned the following "the-EU-is-an-evil-empire" Big brother as in a big empire Evil or not, that is a decision anyone can decide.

I guess it's a bit sad to see less varities of designs but on the other hand it's a good thing when you want to travel around - it makes no sense in having too much different curriencies.

Maybe it's that avatar of yours that "led" my thoughts into that direction, maybe it was the anti-European comments from some others here. And as I wrote before, in this world the "Big Brother" is not in Europe. Evil or not, that is a decision anyone can decide.

As for the "standardization" of euro coins and notes, yes, that is the drawback of a currency union. From a numismatic point of view, I would certainly welcome if the 50 states of the US or the 16 states of Germany each had its own money. But it would makes cash transactions much less practical, hehe.

The euro coins as we have them now are a fairly good compromise between cash that is good throughout Euroland and pieces that are in some way member state specific. And if Slovenia decides to join the EU, and then decides to replace the "cool" designs with something else, the people you should blame or congratulate depending on your political views are in Slovenia ...

Personally, in terms of travelling, I do not care much whether all EU countries have the same currency or not. I live in the German state of North Rhine Westphalia, and am in Maastricht or Antwerp much more often than in Berlin or Dresden, so as far as I am concerned, there should be a common cash for NW and the Benelux countries.

And yes, the Belgian and Dutch coins I do find fairly dull. The German ones are not really better. But look at the Greek and Italian pieces - and judging from the designs, the Slovenian ones could be very nice too.

Optimistically yours,
Christian

You see tabbs, don't get me wrong - I honestly do admire how the European coinage did before the Euros such as the various varities of bi-metals and metals used in coinage. You have the French tri-metal to steel coins used in Italian mintage. Of course, you had different shapes and sizes in the different European countries and so on.

In my opinion, to see them go is somewhat sad but of course, having a unified curreny overrules it easily. I'm sure every country has brilliant mintmasters to work on the designs but having to work with a contraint dimensions, i.e. it has to be on the current Euro planchets somewhat limits various ideas. However, you can see plenty of excellent designs used on commemorative Euro coins - I just wished that one could see more excellent examples in the circulating designs

All governments that TAX their people to death are evil! Maybe we all need a big sister as big brother is a pain in the wallet! They have turned coins into one big business and I find it very difficult why some countries can sell silver at face value while others want 5 times the market value of silver for one of their precious coins? Thats why I find the euro silver commemoratives so attractive (from some of the Euro countries) as you get your monies worth and I actually prefer the uncirculated version over the proof! I don't know about Europe but in the U.S. the vast majority of collectors buy the proofs thus making the unc.s far more valuable down the road. Many times I simply buy one of each to make sure I am covered should one rise in value but I ALWAYS buy the uncirculated commemorative!

True. But all that applies to circulation coins from the US as well: The circulation pieces are (in my opinion) mostly OK but nothing to get excited about. Many US commems, however, are quite or even very attractive. Probably because with collector coins the designer has more "liberties", technically and maybe even in a political-cultural sense ...

@crystalk64: Most of these collector coins, whether in the US or in the EU, are not made for circulation but for collectors only. (I am not talking about pieces like the state quarters or the commemorative €2 coins but silver and gold.) So one might say, who cares what face value a piece has, I just pay whatever the mint charges. But as you wrote, I feel cheated if I have to pay 30 times the face value since, if I ever use it for a payment or take it to the bank, it will only be worth face.

As for proof vs unc, with circulation coins I prefer "regular" pieces, not proof coins. Collector coins are a little different; in many cases the relief looks better on proof coins, and you can see the details better. What I want also depends on the price I (would) have to pay.

Christian

Here are some new images, of what I think are the actual coins. Click a URL below to view or download a hi-res image (warning for dial-up users: each image is 2 to 3 megs).

1 cent: a stork

http://www.evro.si/o-evru/slovenski-kovanci/img/1-cent.jpg

2 cent: the Princes Stone

http://www.evro.si/o-evru/slovenski-kovanci/img/2-centa.jpg

5 cent: Ivan Grohar's "Sower"

http://www.evro.si/o-evru/slovenski-kovanci/img/5-centov.jpg

10 cent: Joze Plecnik's project for the Slovenian parliament

http://www.evro.si/o-evru/slovenski-kovanc...g/10-centov.jpg

20 cent: Lipica horses

http://www.evro.si/o-evru/slovenski-kovanc...g/20-centov.jpg

50 cent: Mount Triglav

http://www.evro.si/o-evru/slovenski-kovanc...g/50-centov.jpg

1 euro: Primoz Trubar

http://www.evro.si/o-evru/slovenski-kovanci/img/1-evro.jpg

2 euro: Dr. France Preseren

http://www.evro.si/o-evru/slovenski-kovanci/img/2-evra.jpg

The Slovenian euro coins were/are made by the Mint of Finland. Starter kits for the general population (and, ahem, collectors) will be available as from mid-December.

Christian

Is that "Fi" supposed to be the minmark for Finland? If so, that is quite interesting. I would have expected Moneta's logo or than an "S" as was done with the Greek euro issues of 2002.

Ha, that is what I first thought too. http://www.numismatico.de/viewtopic.php?t=7410
Actually I have no idea. Somebody else suggested it could be the initials of the designers (Licul, Boljka & Licul) but I have my doubts about that. Well, the people at evro.si (I sent them a message) should know ...

As for the designs, the €1 coin featuring Trubar seems a little too "full" (in terms of text, font styles/sizes) but the others look just great. I particularly like the 5 and 20 cent coins, but the "Triglav" is very good too.

Christian

I like them

Yes. I got a reply from the Slovenian euro information office, and here is the relevant part:

(...) the detail denotes the sign of the mint where the coins are being produced. In the case of Slovenian euro coins, the sign "FI" means "Mint of Finland". (...)

Also, thanks to Vito from Ljubljana we now know what the edge lettering on the Slovenian €2 coins is: "SLOVENIJA". He made a couple of pictures, see his album here:

http://www.email.si/apps/es_gallery/a.php?id=19988

(Since Vito used a scanner, the €2 coin texture looks a little strange - as if the map had measles. But he did a great job with all those images.)

Christian

Have you noticed that word "FRANCE" appears on 2 Euro coin? I bet we will encounter the question like that: Have got french coin but couln't find it in catalog!

Hehe, yes. Especially because the word SLOVENIJA is kind of interwoven with the stars and may thus not be visible at first glance ... (Actually this is from a French language euro forum, posted about two weeks ago: "quelqu'un sait pourquoi il y a marqué france sur la 2euro?" There you go. )

Christian

Here is an article about the production of the Slovenian euro coins. I don't understand the language, but there are also some nice pictures about the production at the Mint of Finland.

http://www.delo.si/index.php?sv_path=41,36,163112
(link "borrowed" from a Dutch forum )

Christian

The euro starter kits are available in Slovenia now. Some of you may remember those little plastic bags that were issued in the euro countries in December 2001 - now the people in SI can "buy" theirs.
http://static.album.email.si/1/7/177203/D7...G2Nqo9MQeXX.jpg

Christian

After a dual circulation period of just two weeks, the tolar coins and notes are no longer legal tender in Slovenia.

Commercial banks in the country will change them into euro cash for a few more weeks - until the end of February, I think. During that period of time, the central banks and their branch offices in the other euro countries will also change tolar cash (notes only) free of charge.

As from 1 March, the only way to turn tolars into euros is the central bank in Slovenia. You have until 2016 for your coins; the redemption period for SIT notes is not limited.

Christian

I am always willing to exchange SIT coins into US$ or €. The frozen rate for exchange is about 1 € = 240 SIT (US$1 = 185¼ SIT)

Received my coins from a German seller, yesterday.

Currently I just have the set (which I won't open), but I should get some raw pieces soon ... I still don't really like the €1 coin (too much text in too many different fonts/sizes) but the others are fine. On the 10 cent coin, by the way, the stars are not quite properly aligned - but that seems to be a (minor) error that can be found on all pieces.

Christian