French euro coins feature three separate designs for the three series of coins. The minor series was designed by Fabienne Courtiade, the middle one by Laurent Jorio and the major two coins are by Joaquin Jimenez. All designs share the 12 stars of the EU

European symbols

A number of symbols of Europe have emerged throughout history. Depending on the symbol, they can apply to Europe as a whole, European unity or merely to the European Union...

 and the year of imprint as well as the letters "RF" for République Française (French Republic

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

).

French euro design

For images of the common side and a detailed description of the coins, see euro coins

Euro coins

There are eight euro coin denominations, ranging from one cent to two euros . The coins first came into use in 2002. They have a common reverse, portraying a map of Europe, but each country in the eurozone has its own design on the obverse, which means that each coin has a variety of different...

.

Circulating Mintage quantities

The following table shows the mintage quantity for all French euro coins, per denomination, per year (the numbers are represented in millions).

Face Value	€0.01	€0.02	€0.05	€0.10	€0.20	€0.50	€1.00	€2.00
1999	794.02	702.07	616.19	447.25	454.29	105.75	301.05	56.69
2000	605.23	510.12	280.06	297.43	148.95	179.50	297.27	171.12
2001	300.65	249.07	217.29	144.48	256.31	276.25	150.22	237.92
2002	0.11	***	186.28	206.65	192.00	226.38	129.32	153.61
2003	160.02	160.39	100.98	180.72	***	***	***	***
2004	400.03	300.02	60.16	1.47	***	***	***	***
2005	240.21	260.19	20.17	45.05	***	***	***	***
2006	343.01	283.17	132.05	60.22	***	***	***	***
2007	320.14	213.22	130.06	90.10	40.16	***	***	***
2008	462.67	386.53	218.23	178.71	25.54	***	***	***
2009	437.32	343.12	184.71	142.71	82.66	***	***	***
2010	335.00	277.00	184.00	76.00	108.00	***	***	***
2011	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
* No coins were minted that year for that denomination ** Data not available yet *** Small quantities minted for sets only

Future changes to national sides

The Commission of the European Communities issued a recommendation on 19 December 2008, a common guideline for the national sides and the issuance of euro coins intended for circulation. One section of this recommendation stipulates that:

Article 4. Design of the national sides:

"The national side of the euro coins intended for circulation should bear the 12 European stars that should fully surround the national design, including the year mark and the indication of the issuing Member State's name. The European stars should be depicted as on the European flag."

Since French euro coins have part of the national design outside of the 12 stars of the union, a new design on the French euro coins is expected in the near future to comply with these new guidelines, although nothing has officially been announced yet.

External links

• The Euro Information Website – France