The French mint “La Monnaie de Paris” will probably have to melt 27 million hastily produced 10, 20 and 50 cent coins. The coins, which feature a new French design, should enter circulation from January this year, the newspaper “Les Echos” reported yesterday, citing information from the mint.
French authorities have already given the green light to the project, but the necessary approval from the EU Commission is still pending. Production started early to be able to present the new coins when the Minister of Finance and Economy, Bruno Le Maire, visited the mint in early December.
Four days after production of the coins began, the design was rejected by Brussels – the objection was that the EU stars were not visible clearly enough on the side representing Europe. The minister then canceled his visit to the State Mint, which quickly presented a new project to the EU.
Approval was made at the end of December, so production of the appropriate coins is still ongoing, according to people close to the Mint. Unsuitable coins must now be recycled – financial losses could amount to 700,000 to 1.2 million euros.