Counterfeit Coins
Approximately 100,000 counterfeit euro coins are taken from circulation annually, and a similar number is seized before it can be released. Given a total circulation of 56 billion coins, counterfeit coins are relatively rare. About half the counterfeits feature the German national design, but counterfeits have been detected for every issuing country. The majority of counterfeit coins are €2 (60% in 2011), with most of the rest being €1, and a few 50-cent coins. The number of counterfeit €2 coins being found annually is decreasing, while numbers of counterfeit €1 and 50-cent coins are increasing.
Seized coins from circulation (totals):
- 2011: 157,000
- 2010: 186,000
- 2009: 172,100
- 2008: 195,900
- 2007: 211,100
- 2006: 163,800
- 2005: 100,500
- 2004: 75,564
- 2003: 26,339
The European Technical and Scientific Centre estimates that up to two million counterfeit coins were put into circulation in 2002.
Recent investigations by the European Commission have shown that the level of sophistication in the counterfeits is increasing, making prompt detection even more difficult. In 2008, Irish MEP Eoin Ryan called for tighter regulation over tokens and medals that are being increasingly used for small purchases mainly in vending machines across Europe.
Read more about this topic: Euro Coins
Famous quotes containing the words counterfeit and/or coins:
“It is not in the power of even the most crafty dissimulation to conceal love long, where it really is, nor to counterfeit it long where it is not.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“A war undertaken without sufficient monies has but a wisp of force. Coins are the very sinews of battles.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)