The Two Euro Cents coin (€0.02) has a value of one fiftieth of a Euro and is composed of copper-plated steel. It is the second-lowest-value coin in the Eurozone. Like all other common circulation coins (from 1 cent to €2), the denomination is issued by the separate countries in the Eurozone and is legal tender in all of them, irrespective of which country has issued it. The coins have a common reverse (designed by Luc Luycx in 1999), and each country has its own national obverse; the German obverse was designed by Rolf Lederbogen.
The denomination was introduced in 2002, when Germany retired the German Mark currency and introduced the Euro. The two-cent coin was not redesigned in 2007 as was the case with the higher-value coins.
German Euro Cents feature an oak twig on the obverse - an image carried over from the previous two pfennigs denomination. The year and mint mark are shown at the bottom. Germany has five mints striking circulation coins, which have an arrangement whereby each mint strikes a specific proportion of the circulation coins every year.
The mints and their mint marks are: - Berlin Mint - mint mark A - Munich Mint - mint mark D - SMBW - Stuttgart (ex Stuttgart Mint) - mint mark F - SMBW - Karlsruhe (ex Karlsruhe Mint) - mint mark G - Hamburg Mint - mint mark J Note that two of them are part of Staatliche Münzen Baden-Württemberg (SMBW) - the State Mints of Baden-Württemberg - after they merged in 1998, but operate separate facilities and use different mint marks. |