Collectors' help

Ι. TERMS AND CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE SALE OF COLLECTOR AND COMMEMORATIVE COIN SERIES

Sales of the above products to taxable persons established in another EU Member State shall be exempt from VAT, in accordance with the provisions of Article 28 of the VAT Code. Such exemption is subject to VAT validation through the VIES system and to proof of dispatch of the goods to the purchaser’s Member State of establishment.

By decision of the Minister of Economy and Finance, the Bank of Greece is authorised, through its Head Office and Branches, to sell collector and commemorative coin series issued following a joint decision of the Minister of Economy and Finance and the Governor of the Bank of Greece. The maximum allowed quantities are indicated in the first page of the preregistration form.

Detailed information regarding the sale of the numismatic products to any interested party (private collector – merchant) are posted on DIAVGEIA as well as on the official website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (www.minfin.gr). Further information can be provided to any interested party by the relevant department of Ministry of Economy and Finance, namely the E Capital Transfers & Numismatic Issues Department of the State Guarantees & Capital Transfers Directorate, at the below referred telephone numbers: +30 210 3338 554, 210 3338 516 & 210 3338 513 and the following e-mail address: d25e@glk.gr.

For the purchase of quantities within the limits specified above, the following procedure shall apply:

ΙΙ. EMAIL ORDERING PROCEDURE FOR SMALL QUANTITIES OF COLLECTOR AND COMMEMORATIVE COIN SERIES

1. Application submission
   • First, the interested collectors shall fill out a Pre-Registration Form ( with all the necessary fields) and email it to serv.NumProdRetailDi@bankofgreece.gr and the merchants/traders to serv.NumProdWholDist@bankofgreece.gr. Upon receiving the form, the relevant unit of the Bank of Greece shall verify that the items requested are still in stock and enter the details of the order into its pre-registration/order database. The above referred unit of the Bank of Greece shall provide the below referred info to the applicant: (a) the Reference Number; (b) indication of any non-availability of the items requested; and (c) the total amount payable by the applicant.
   • In order to finalise the ordering procedure, the applicant will then have to prepay the full amount of the order, within a deadline of three working days (starting from the Date of Pre-Registration). Otherwise, the order shall be cancelled.
2. Payment of the total amount due (for finalization of the order):

   The amount can can be made as follows:

   • By money transfer (from a bank in Greece or abroad) to Bank of Greece Account No. GR4101004860000000059134368 – SALE OF COMMEMORATIVE COINS – BIC: BNGRGRAA. Important note: Field 70 of the money transfer order must mention the Reference Number and Date of Pre-Registration provided by the Bank of Greece to the applicant, as well as the applicant’s full name. Without this information, the Bank of Greece will not be able to match the money transfer to the corresponding pre-registration application and will not complete the procedure.
   • At the counters of the Bank of Greece (Head Office or Branches): the applicant or a person authorised to act on his/her behalf can, upon presentation of valid identification (ID or passport), pay the amount quoted in the Pre-Registration Form.
3. Dispatch of commemorative / collector coins to recipients
   • Orders submitted by recipients residing within or outside Greece shall be carried out exclusively via a courier company authorised by the customer.
   • It is noted that granted applications through e-mail orders cannot be picked up by the Head Office of the Bank of Greece. As long as quantity limitations apply, multiple applications with the same recipient shall not be accepted.
   • In case that a remote order applicant for a numismatic product is found to have already purchased the certain product by the Head Office or any Branch of Bank of Greece, the remote order will be automatically cancelled and any such fee deposited will be returned to the applicant reduced by the money transfer fees. The above referred action will take place only when quantity limitations apply.

Collector euro coins are officially issued by euro area countries, but are not intended for circulation. Their nominal value and designs are always different than the one of the coins in circulation.

While euro circulation coins are legal tender throughout the euro area, euro collector coins are legal tender only in their country of issuance. These coins are rarely used for payment purposes, because their market value is usually much higher than their nominal value and many of them are made out of precious metals such as gold or silver.

To avoid causing confusion to the public, the technical specifications of collector coins are different from those of circulation coins. Out of the three technical parameters, namely color, diameter and weight, at least two need to be different from those of euro circulation coins.

For the design of the common side of euro coins a competition was launched at European level. The winning series were designed by Luc Luycx of the Royal Belgian Mint.

After the EU enlargement of May 1, 2004 with 10 new member states, it was deemed necessary to change the common sides of the 10-, 20- and 50-cent and €1 and €2 coins, in order to represent the new composition of the EU. The related decision was taken by the European Council on 7 June 2005.

Member states have been issuing coins with the new common sides, gradually from 2007 onwards. The new member states that adopted the euro from 2007 onwards (Slovakia, Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia) minted coins with the new common sides. 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins show the denomination, the inscription "EURO CENT", six lines and twelve stars near the edge of the lines. The middle part of the lines shows Europe in relief in relation to Africa and Asia on a globe.

10-, 20- and 50-cent coins show the denomination, the inscription "EURO CENT", six vertical straight lines and twelve stars near the edge of each line. The upper middle part of the lines shows either the European Union with the 15 Member States before the enlargement of 1 May 2004 or a geographical image of Europe as of 1 January 2007.

€1 and €2 coins show the denomination, the inscription "EURO", six vertical lines and twelve stars near the edge of each line. The right part shows either the European Union before the enlargement of 1 May 2004 or a geographical image of Europe as of 1 January 2007.