Euro coins and Santiago

[Rosina Lila]

The Euro currency is in full use now in the European Union (EU). The  designs
of the bills are icily symmetric and unimaginative, in my view, depicting a
composite of presumable representative European structures. The bills are
exactly the same all over the EU.
The coins, however, of the same size, composition and color bear engravings
individually designed by each country.
The Italian coins are, of course, beautiful and draw on the immense artistic
Italian wealth. The German and French coins that I saw are also pretty.
The coins come in denominations of 1-Euro, 2-Euros, 50-cents (centimes),
20-cents,
10-cents, 5-cents, 2-cents and 1-cent.
The obverse of the 2-Euro and 1-Euro Spanish coins show the face of King Juan
Carlos; the 50-cents, 20-cents and 10-cents coins show a very small bust of
Cervantes,  and the 5-cents, 2-cents and 1-cent coins show the front of the
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in all its magnificence.  True, these
three are the lowest denomination coins, but are their circulation is by far
the greatest.
-On a related note, the tiny Vatican State has issued its own coins and the
Euro ones show the face of the Pope.  These coins are much in demand and some
people in Spain were offering as much as 20 Euros for one of them.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get one myself at any price.
Best regards,
Rosina