Information about currency: Euro, Andorra

The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 of the 27 member states of the European Union. This group of states is known as the Eurozone or Euro area. The name Euro was officially adopted on 16 December 1995. The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU). Physical euro coins and banknotes entered into circulation on 1 January 2002, making it the day-to-day operating currency of its original members.

All circulating coins have a common side showing the denomination or value, and a map in the background. Due to the linguistic plurality of Europe, the Latin alphabet version of Euro is used (as opposed to the less common Greek or Cyrillic) and Arabic numerals (other text is used on national sides in national languages, but other text on the common side is avoided). The coins also have a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued the coin. Euro coins from any member state may be freely used in any nation that has adopted the euro.

The coins are issued in €2, €1, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c, and 1c denominations. Commemorative coins with €2 face value have been issued with changes to the design of the national side of the coin. These coins are legal tender throughout the Eurozone. Collector coins with various other denominations have been issued as well, but these are not intended for general circulation, and they are legal tender only in the member state that issued them.

Andorra did not have an official currency before adopting the Euro, and unlike its two larger neighbours, France and Spain, which surround it, it is not a member of the EU. In the 20th century, both the French Franc and Spanish Peseta were used and accepted in Andorra, but the peseta was more widespread, with government budgets, salaries and bank deposits mostly being in pesetas. When those two currencies were replaced by the euro between 1999 and 2002, the Euro became the sole currency in Andorra.

Unlike the three other European micro-states outside of the EU, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City, which adopted the Euro when it was introduced, Andorra did not conclude a monetary agreement with the EU but rather used it unilaterally. These agreements gave the three micro-states the right to issue their own Euro coins. As with coins minted in other Eurozone states, the micro-state coins are valid across the Eurozone; however they do not gain representation on the euro's governing bodies, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurogroup.

Andorra reached a monetary agreement with the EU allowing it to make the Euro its official currency, and permitting it to issue Euro coins from 1 July 2013. On 23 December 2014, the first coins were delivered for pre-booked customers at the Government Administration Building, and actual circulation began on 15 January 2015.