The euro (sign: €; code: EUR) is the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union and is the official currency of theeurozone, which consists of 17 of the 28 member states of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland,France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.

Euro started on January the 1st, 2002

The euro is the result of an ambitious project by the European Union (EU) to create a single currency for most of Western Europe. It is now the official currency of fifteen nations. Each participating country issues euro coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 euro cents (a euro cent is one one-hundredth of a euro), as well as 1 and 2 euros. All euro coins of the same denomination share the same 'common face,' but each country may render its own 'national face' design on the opposite side of the coin. As a result the euro coins, like the US state quarters or Canadian Confederation quarters, serve as a small but compelling mosaic of a fascinating part of the world.