Look at this.
A coin with a crudely drawn stickman on it.
Now this isn't a joke or an error, this is a real coin that was really minted for a real
currency.
And it isn't some obscure or out of date currency - if I go down to the shop with this right
now, I could buy something with it, or maybe a few of them, inflation's rough.
Actually, as a matter of fact, I could use this in about two dozen different countries.
This is of course, a Euro coin.
So how did our little friend here get on the back?
First let's talk a little about the Euro.
It's the official currency for 19 out of the 27 member states of the European Union, the
EU.
It's also used in a few counties outside of the EU, like Monaco and Andorra.
It's the second-most traded currency in the world, behind the American dollar.
It was introduced in 1999 in a set of policies known as the Economic and Monetary Union of
the European Union, although it didn't see circulation until 2002.
There's not too much to talk about with the notes, they're the same everywhere you go,
although they do have a rather pleasant design in that the notes are physically sized in
accordance to their value.
The coins are the same in this regard, almost, but with the added bonus of having different
designs on the back.
As long as a country follows some design regulations that ensure the coins are still instantly
recognisable, they can put their own design on the back.
Here in Ireland, you'll see a harp on the back of most coins.
Actually, we put the harp on every value of coin, in comparison to, for example Italy,
who have the Vitruvian Man on the back of their One Euro coin, but not the other coins.
There are also plenty of commemorative designs with limited runs, so the backs of these coins
are pretty varied, but they're still instantly recognisable.
It doesn't matter what country I go to and what crazy stuff they're putting on the coins
- look at this one I have with a knight on the back, even if I don't know what country
this came from (Lithuania), I still know it's a twenty cent.
You just take one look at these coins and BOOM all you see is the big number, you instantly
know how much you have.
This is a problem I had with my change in America.
I know it makes sense to my American viewers but you've lived with these coins your whole
lives, it's a little confusing for some one who's never dealt with them before.
"Hmmm let me see how much money I have.
Well, there's a dime.
It doesn't say how much that is, it just says 'dime'.
What the hell's a dime?
Well, it's much smaller than all the other coins so I guess it's one cent.
Nope, it's ten cent.
One cent and five cent are bigger than it.
And fifty cents, or a 'half dollar' is bigger than a dollar."
Well I'll have to forgive that last one because our fifty cent is bigger than the Euro too,
annoyingly.
Can anyone get this right?
Well, certainly not the British, with their pounds.
One penny is bigger than five pence, ten pence is bigger than twenty pence, and a full pound.
And two pence is bigger than all of them except fifty pence and two pounds.
At least if you arrange all the coins, the backs of them make up the Royal Coat of Arms.
Although I think the concept here is a lot cooler than the execution.
It doesn't really look like one cohesive image altogether, and it does mean some of the individual
coins don't look right.
I mean look at the twenty pence by itself, it's just a lion's arse.
Well, that's enough about what makes the Euro good, let's get to what makes it great.
The stickman two Euro coin, featuring a crudely drawn stickman holding a Euro symbol.
How is this a real coin?
Well, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European
Union, the EU would create a commemorative coin in 2009.
Five years earlier, in 2004, it was decided that only two euro coins would be used for
commemorative designs, because they're the biggest, and therefore most artistically accomodating,
coin.
So what would they put on the back of this new two euro?
Well, why not let the people decide, let's have a competition and let EU citizens vote
on it.
Yeah, you can guess the rest.
140,000 people voted online and the stickman two euro won over 40% of the vote.
I can't find any images of the competing coin designs anymore, but they were serious designs
that the artists probably put a lot of thought, time and effort into.
Only to lose to this fella, designed by George Stamatopoulo, a sculptor at the Central Bank
of Greece.
So this guy is legitimately an artist in a financial environment.
He has legit credentials, why does his design look like this?
Assumedly in an attempt to justify the design, it's described as a representation of the
evolution of European trade from primitive beginnings to the advent of the Euro.
Nice try, but that's not why you made it, that's not why people voted for it and that's
not why we love it.
It's a stickman holding a euro.
And so, as the winner of the competition, the coin was put into circulation and a limited
number was issued by each euro-area Member State.
Each of them are the same, except for the issuing country's name above the design.
Oh, and Luxembourg's has weird ridges on their version.
Maybe it's an attempt to cover up the humorous design, or maybe the ridges are lenticular
and it has a holographic effect.
I'm not sure, I've never seen one of these ones in person.
Oh yeah, I forgot to say, I've got a bunch of these stickman two euros.
Anytime I notice I have one I just can't bring myself to give it away by spending it.
They're not rare by any means, there was an estimated 90 million of them issued, but I'd
say they're uncommon, you don't see them that often and I'm willing to bet the majority
of EU citizens probably don't even know it exists.
Some are rarer than others, like Malta's stickman, because Malta only made about 700,000 of them.
I don't have any from Malta, in fact most of mine are from Ireland, with a few exceptions.
But I don't really care about that.
I only collect them because they have a stickman on them, that's it.
Although I would like one of those Luxembourg ones.
So yeah, if you're in the EU, pay attention to your two euro coins and you might find
a stickman.
There are plenty of designs that are a lot more rare than this one.
It's actually quite surprising how widespread these coins are considering they don't even
look real.
The first time someone told me about this coin, I guess it would've been shortly after
they were first minted, but I didn't believe the person for a second.
Even when someone showed me one for the first time, I couldn't believe it, but they had
no connection to the person who first told me about the coin, so it wasn't an elaborate
prank, it was a real coin.
Wow.
Similarly if you ever visited the EU and saw this coin, you might think you've been duped.
But you haven't.
So smile, because in your hand you have a coin with a crudely drawn stickman on it,
one of 90 million similar coins, that belong to one of the most legit currencies in the
world.
And this is what it looks like.
I hope you understand why I like these so much.
The mere existence of it fills me with joy.
So if you weren't convinced the Euro was the best currency, you're not impressed you can
go to all these different countries without needing foreign exchange, you don't care that
they're reasonably sized and labelled, well, just look at this.
This alone is reason enough the Euro is the greatest currency
on Earth.