History of the euro
The eight euro coins have denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, and 1 and 2 euros. Their common side was designed by Luc Luycx of the Royal Belgian Mint, winner of the European competition to design the coins. The common side shows three different maps of Europe surrounded by the EU’s 12 stars, with a number indicating the coin’s value. The national side carries a different design for each country, also within a frame of the 12 EU stars and bearing the initials of the Italian Republic (RI).
The designs of the Italian coins were chosen on 8 February 1998 through a telephone vote during a television programme, except for the 1 euro coin, whose design was selected by the economy minister at the time, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The designs are:
- 1 cent: Castel del Monte in Andria.
- 2 cents: the Mole Antonelliana in Turin.
- 5 cents: the Colosseum in Rome.
- 10 cents: a detail from Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
- 20 cents: Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by Umberto Boccioni.
- 50 cents: the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, based on Michelangelo’s design for Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome.
- 1 euro: Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.
- 2 euros: a portrait of Dante Alighieri based on Raphael’s fresco Disputa del Sacramento.