Euro starter kits

Euro starter kits are packs of euro coins of all the eight denominations sealed in a plastic bag. The scope of these kits is primarily to familiarise the citizens of that nation that is going to join the eurozone with the new currency, the euro. Another objective is to fill up cash registers well in advance of €-Day. Usually these kits are available from the local banks some weeks before the euro changeover. [ [http://p2.forumforfree.com/index.php?mforum=melitikus The €Uro Collection :: Index ] ]

Mainly there are two types of starter packs; business starter kits and kits for the general public. The difference is in the amount of the coins per pack. Business kits are intended for retailers, thereby they contain around 100 euros or more of coins and are normally contained in rolls, whereas, the mini-starter kits are intended for the general public and usually these kits have a small volume of coins. [http://jore.neuf.fr/starter%20kit.html] [http://euromuenzen.com/starterkits/ Euro Starterkits ] ] [ [http://theurocollection.blogspot.com/ The €uro Collection Blog ] ]

Austria

The Austrian euro starter kits were out on the 15th December, 2001. The general public kit was sold for €14.54 (200,07 ATS, however, rounded to 200 ATS), whereas, the business starter kits were available much earlier, on 1 September 2001 and each kit contained €145 in Austrian euro coins. The quantity of the public and business starter kits produced was 6,000,000 and 750,000 kits, respectively.

Belgium

The Belgian Starterskits were sold at 500 Belgian Francs.

Cyprus

Cyprus together with Malta joined the eurozone on 1 January 2008. On 3 December 2007, the Central Bank of Cyprus issued mini-starter packs and business kits, so the Cypriots would have enough euro cash before €-Day. [http://www.centralbank.gov.cy/media/pdf/NPANE_IB14201207.pdf] [ [http://www.ecb.eu/bc/euro/changeover/cyprus/html/index.en.html ECB: Cyprus ] ]

Forty thousand starter kits, worth €172 each, were available for businesses, but only 22.000 were sold. Since these starter kits contained rolled coins, the remaining kits could easily be used by the banks after €-day. Another 250,000 mini-kits, worth €17.09 (CYP 10) each, were available for the general public. Some 189,000 mini-kits were sold. According to the Eurobarometer survey, more than 70% of the citizens who had bought a mini-kit opened it and used the coins after the changeover while some 20% kept it untouched. As from the changeover, the unsold mini-kits have been exported to satisfy the demand of coin collectors abroad. Cypriot euro coins worth €3.5 million were exported in the first three weeks of January.http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0204:FIN:EN:PDF]

Monaco

Despite not being a member of the European Union, in 1999 Monaco also adopted the euro. This is mainly because Monaco never had its own currency and was using the French one, so when France switched to the euro Monaco had no option but to follow suit. The European Union has a special agreement with Monaco that allows this country to mint a limited number of euro coins. Late in 2001, Monaco issued 51,200 starter kits for the nominal price of €15,25 each, however, today their price on commercial websites is more than €600.

Netherlands

The Netherlands issued two different starter kits, one in a bag, intended to educate its citizens about the euro, whereas the other kit was issued as a folder, projected mostly for the collectors. The former was distributed to the citizens of the Netherlands for free.

Portugal

One million starter kits containing the Portuguese euro coins were available on 17 December 2001. Each kit was sold for 2005 PTE (equivalent to 10€). On 1 September 2001 business kits with 250€ of euro coins were available.

an Marino

San Marino in 2002 was among those non-EU nations that joined the euro. Out of all the countries that switched to the euro, San Marino was the only country not to issue a euro starter kit.

lovakia

Slovakia will join the eurozone on 1 January 2009. As part of the euro changeover preparation, Slovakia on 1 December 2008 will issue 1,200,000 starter packs for the general public. Each starter kit will contain €16.60 in coins this is equivalent to SKK500.09, however, the price will be rounded-down to SKK500. The starter kits will be sold by the Slovak Post, local commercial banks and National Bank of Slovakia. [http://www.nbs.sk/PRESS/TS080715_1.HTM Tlačové správy ] ]

Vatican

The smallest independent nation in the world, on 1 March 2002 issued 1,000 starter kits. The was the only nation to issue starter kits well after the eurochangeover, thus, these starter kits are collectible items. Each kit consisted of eight coins, one coin of each denomination (€0,01 - €2,00), thereby, having a face value of €3,88 and all depict the now late pope, John Paul II. Although these packs were available for free, nowadays, their price on commercial websites is significant. With only 1,000 issues, this is the rarest starter kit. [ [http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Shop/ Shop - Homepage ] ]

In 2008, surprisingly, the Vatican City released 6,400 'starter kits', however, this time the coins featured Benedict XVI. Each kit contains eight coins, again a coin of each denomination, and was given to the inhabitants and employees of the Vatican for free. [http://www.euroswapper.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15146&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15]

ee also

External links

* [http://p2.forumforfree.com/index.php?mforum=melitikus The €uro Collection Forum]
* [http://theurocollection.blogspot.com/ The €uro Collection Blog]

References