Euro gold and silver commemorative
coins (Greece)
By metal
By face value
Year
Issues
gold
silver
Others
€200
€100
€20
€10
2003
15
5
10
–
1
4
1
9
2004
12
4
8
–
–
4
–
8
2005
1
–
1
–
–
–
–
1
2006
3
–
3
–
–
–
–
3
2007
4
–
4
–
–
–
–
4
2008
1
–
1
–
–
–
–
1
Total
36
9
27
0
1
8
1
26
Coins were minted
No coins were minted
Hellenic Republic
Ελληνική Δημοκρατία
Ellīnikī́ Dīmokratía
Euro gold and silver commemorative
coins are special euro coins minted and is-
sued by member states of the Eurozone,
mainly in gold and silver, although other pre-
cious metals are also used in rare occasions.
Greece was one of the first twelve countries
in the Eurozone that introduced the euro (€)
on 1 January 2002. Since 2003, the Mint of
Greece have been minting both normal issues
of Greek euro coins, which are intended for
circulation, and commemorative euro coins in
gold and silver.
These special coins have a legal tender
only in Greece, unlike the normal issues of
the Greek euro coins, which have a legal
tender in every country of the Eurozone. This
means that the commemorative coins made
of gold and silver cannot be used as money in
other countries. Furthermore, as their bullion
value[1] generally vastly exceeds their face
value, these coins are not intended to be
used as means of payment at all—although it
remains possible. For this reason, they are
usually named Collectors’ coins.
The coins usually commemorate the an-
niversaries of historical events or draw
attention to current events of special import-
ance. Greece mints four of these coins on av-
erage per year, mainly in silver, with a typic-
al face value of €10. However, to celebrate
the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece
minted almost three times more than normal
number of coins in 2003 and 2004, in both
gold and silver.
Summary
As of 27 October 2008, 36 variations of Greek
commemorative coins have been minted: 15
in 2003, 12 in 2004, one in 2005, three in
2006, four in 2007 and one in 2008 so far.
These special high-value commemorative
coins are not to be confused with €2 com-