Will the 11 euro coin from the European Football Championship become a numismatic fairy tale?

In recent years, many German collectors have often been very critical of “Munze Germany“, the official sales agency for collectible coins. They felt that the coins issued by their country in recent decades were often uninspiring and sometimes even embarrassing. Despite this, German mints have demonstrated their prowess with innovations such as polymer coins, proving that they can compete with the highest levels of minting technology. With the launch of a new brand, “Münze Deutschland”, there has been an effort to stand out among the major players in the industry.

This year, Münze Deutschland took a bold risk, but with an uncertain outcome: by introducing an 11 euro coin for the 2024 European Football Championship. For the first time in the history of the Federal Republic (with the exception of the silver 25 euro coins), German coins featured a “non-standard” denomination – something that had not been seen for over 100 years, when 3 mark coins were minted in the Weimar Republic. This exotic numismatic choice clashed with the sober and conservative image that Münze Deutschland had inherited from its predecessor, the government-administered German collectors’ coin sales agency, or “Verkaufsstelle für Sammlermünzen.”

The football coin has sparked passionate and critical debate like few other coin issues of the Federal Republic. Some called it a cheap publicity stunt (due to the familiar football rhetoric of “eleven friends”, etc.), while others saw it as an insult to value-oriented collectors (due to its 500/1000 silver alloy) and criticized its design: the coin’s centerpiece prominently features a soccer ball, constituting the central element of the design. This is complemented by a stylized football field with corner flags. The black, red and gold color palette references Germany, the host country of the event. Additionally, the design includes the numbers “1” and “0”, which can refer to the final score of a match or the number of venues.

However, what happened on May 8, 2024 in front of Bundesbank branches throughout Germany sounds like a fairy tale: Long queues formed everywhere, with at least 100 to 200 people depending on the city. In Hamburg, the line went around the entire building and in Hannover, people snaked all over the square. Previous coin issues from the Federal Republic, especially 2 euro coins or coins with colored applications, attracted hardly any collectors (or, in the worst case, no collectors). But now people of all ages were flocking to Bundesbank branches to get their football coins.

Every four years, the UEFA European Football Championshipscommonly known as euros, captivate millions of people across Europe and beyond. The tournament, which began in 1960, has become one of the most prestigious football events in the world, rivaling even the FIFA World Cup in terms of fan fervor and engagement. The Euros bring together the best national teams from across Europe, providing a stage for emerging talents and established stars to shine. The tournament now features 24 national teams, an expanded number from the original 4, illustrating the growing competitive landscape of European football. Germany and Spain share the record for the most Euro titles, each having won the championship three times. Germany triumphed in 1972, 1980 and 1996, while Spain claimed victory in 1964, 2008 and 2012.

The popularity of football in Europe is deeply rooted in the continent’s culture and history. Unlike other regions where several sports compete for dominance, football (often translated as “Soccer” in most European countries) enjoys almost uncontested supremacy across Europe. The reasons for this are multiple: firstly, the simplicity and accessibility of the sport have been essential. All it takes is a ball and an open space to make it easy for both children and adults to play. This accessibility has made football a social glue, promoting community spirit in urban and rural areas. Second, European football clubs, many of which are over a century old, have cultivated a rich heritage and fierce rivalries. These clubs are often an integral part of local identities, their successes and failures profoundly affecting community pride and cohesion. The passion for club football extends seamlessly to the national level during the Euros, uniting even the fiercest rival clubs in nationalistic fervor.

The cultural context partly explains why the numismatic celebration in front of the Bundesbank branches took the whole country by storm – and inevitably brought back memories of 2016, when the first polymer coins were issued there. Those who obtained a polymer 5 euro coin, “Blue Planet Earth”, at its face value at the time are still happy today, because the coins are now worth ten times their original value, despite a mintage of 2 million coins. In comparison, the football coin has only half that mintage.

Detlef Behr, the designer of the piece, mentioned in a magazine interview “Prägefrisch” that he was inspired by the 2020 football coin designed by his colleague Thomas Serres. He developed the idea by reversing the famous football quote, “The round must enter the square”, integrating the football field into the shape of the round coin. Behr emphasized the importance of making the football theme immediately recognizable in his design and creating a playful atmosphere. This was achieved through the artistic distortion of the field and the dynamic appearance of the corner flags. Behr wanted to use color subtly to highlight the engraving and materiality of the coin, which he considers essential to the quality of the coin. He finds the design of the coins particularly fascinating because of the challenge of fitting many details into a limited space, similar to the design of the stamps.

However, Münze Deutschland’s critics are still not convinced by the success of the football play. They argue that the 11 euro coin, unlike the 2016 polymer coin, is not really innovative. They had hoped for at least a concave strike, or even completely different special effects. A little color, a strange name and an economical silver alloy: is this supposed to be a big deal?

Given the high number of football fans in Germany, probably tens of millions, interest in this coin is expected to remain high. And let’s think a few months ahead: what if Germany won the European Championship this year? What if the whole country celebrated with public screenings in good weather, like we’ve seen in previous tournaments? Since the summer of 2006, the magic of a world championship or a European championship has conquered even those who are generally not interested in this sport. The term “Sommermärchen” became popular in Germany after the national team almost won the 2006 FIFA World Cup in its home country. Germans throughout the Federal Republic celebrated this success by waving the black, red and yellow flag.

Many people, football fans or not, will be looking for a souvenir of this year’s European Football Championship in their own country and will discover the 11 Euro coin as a unique and affordable souvenir from Germany. And we haven’t even mentioned the many fans from other countries yet. So perhaps we are witnessing a numismatic fairy tale.

While soccer has been the most popular sport in Europe for decades, soccer balls rarely appear on European coins. However, when they do, they earn special places in numismatic directories. For example, in 2003, Germany issued the first of four silver 10-euro coins for the World Cup, which took place in the country in 2006. This event was crowned numismatically with a gold 100-euro coin. The 2003 to 2006 football coins were the first German coin series in the Euro era.

In 2011, the Federal Republic honored the Women’s World Cup and accidentally produced one of the most sought-after and expensive test pieces in German history. The initial designs separated the term “women’s football” with a hyphen, but this small hyphen disappeared on the final piece. The few remaining copies bearing the hyphen sell for up to 3,000 euros.

Nearly ten years later, not only has the European Championship fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, but so has the event’s venue. A silver coin with a face value of 20 euros was only issued in June 2021. However, the inscription on the coin was not updated, so the European Championship is still dated 2020, even though the tournament took place from June to July 2021. Other countries like Belgium followed the German example, while some countries like Portugal had already minted their euro coins 2020 in 2020 with the corresponding date.