An eagle within the ring of European stars and a line from the anthem on the edge: the largest coins of this set, the €1 and €2, speak of German sovereignty within the new shared currency. This 8-coin euro set of 2002 was struck in Karlsruhe, at the mint with mark G.

The eagle of the German €1 and €2 was created by Heinz Hoyer and Sneschana Russewa-Hoyer; the €2 edge carries EINIGKEIT UND RECHT UND FREIHEIT (Unity and Justice and Freedom) and the federal eagle. The middle values, 10, 20 and 50 cents, bear Reinhard Heinsdorff’s Brandenburg Gate, symbol of Germany’s division and reunification. The 1, 2 and 5 cent coins show Professor Rolf Lederbogen’s oak twig, a reference to the pfennig.

Euro cash replaced the German mark on 1 January 2002, so this is a set of the very first year. The common side of the 10 cent to €2 coins shows the map of the European Union before its 2004 enlargement. The Karlsruhe mint, together with the Stuttgart mint, now forms Staatliche Münzen Baden-Württemberg.

In 2002 each of the five German mints struck hundreds of millions of cent coins for circulation and made set coins separately. The Karlsruhe set is the G position in a mint-by-mint run of German euros.

UNC condition means the coins never circulated: no wear, mint lustre preserved, with only minor storage marks allowed.

A collection can grow in any direction, and the VPcoins catalogue has options for each of them.