The Euro

Austria
Belgium
Finland
France

Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy

Luxembourg
Netherlands
Portugal
Spain

The euro was first adopted on 1 January 1999. Euro notes and coins came into circulation on 1 January 2002. One euro is divided into 100 cents. The official abbreviation/code for the euro is EUR.

Euro Conversion Rates
From the beginning, the value of each participating currency was officially fixed against the euro as follows:

Official Fixed Euro Rates
Country	Original Currency	to convert to euro divide by:	to convert from euro multiply by:
Austria	schilling (ATS)	13.7603	13.7603
Belgium	franc (BEF)	40.3399	40.3399
Finland	markka (FIM)	5.94573	5.94573
France	franc (FRF)	6.55957	6.55957
Germany	mark (DEM)	1.95583	1.95583
Ireland	punt (IEP)	0.787564	0.787564
Italy	lira (ITL)	1936.27	1936.27
Luxembourg	franc (LUF)	40.3399	40.3399
Netherlands	guilder (NLG)	2.20371	2.20371
Portugal	escudo (PTE)	200.482	200.482
Spain	peseta (ESP)	166.386	166.386
Example: to convert 100 French francs to euros, divide by 6.55957: 100 FRF = 100/6.55957 = 15.24 EUR to convert 100 euros to French francs, multiply by 6.55957: 100 EUR = 100 x 6.55957 = 655.96 FRF

Coins
Each euro coin has the European Union flag on one side, and on the reverse a national symbol of one of the participating countries, such as the King of Spain on Spanish euros and the Queen of the Netherlands on Dutch coins. Any coin can be used in any of the participating countries, regardless of the national symbol. There are eight euro coins in the following denominations:

2 euros
1 euro
50 cents
20 cents
10 cents
5 cents
2 cents
1 cent

Notes
Euro notes feature images of gateways and bridges to symbolise Europe's architectural heritage and the idea of union. Euro notes are exactly the same in all participating countries. There are seven euro notes in the following denominations:

500 euros
200 euros
100 euros
50 euros
20 euros
10 euros
5 euros

The symbol for the euro is like a round E with two horizontal parallel lines. The inspiration for this symbol was the Greek letter epsilon (a reference to Greece as the foundation of European civilisation). The parallel lines are intended to represent the euro's stability.