By Richard Giedroyc, World Coin News February 08, 2010

You might think global warming had impacted the design on a German euro coin, if you are superstitious.

Germany strikes its European Union euro coins at five mints. The mint at Stuttgart, which uses an F mintmark, issued a commemorative 2 euro coin in 2008 commemorating Hamburger Michel on one side, with the standard map of EU countries on the other side. Inadvertently there are two versions of the map, one that has been dubbed the “old Europe chart,” and the other dubbed the “new Europe chart.”

The Old Europe Chart variety depicts the Scandinavian coastline so poorly it could easily be argued this is an interpretation of what part of northern Europe will look like after the polar ice caps melt due to global warming. The New Europe Chart 2008-F 2 euro coin has a better defined coastline, more in line with what the coastline now looks like.

Unlike previous error map euro coins, this error has drawn little attention in the numismatic or general press. The varieties were brought to the author’s attention through an announcement in the Worldwide Bimetal Collectors Club e-mail newsletter. Little information was available outside the club newsletter, with the Stuttgart Mint staying out of the limelight.

There was no official word at the time this article was being written regarding if both varieties were available in circulation, and if one variety was scarcer than was the other.

Richard Giedroyc is a full-time coin dealer based in Ohio. He can be contacted at Giedroyc@Bright.net.



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