Euro starter kits
The kits' purpose is primarily to familiarise citizens of a nation joining the eurozone with their new currency.
A further objective is to provide coins for retailers' cash registers well in advance of their respective €-Day.
[1][2][3] The Andorran government put in place a system of distribution of the starter kits so that the country's residents would gain priority over non-resident buyers.
The starter kits were sold in Croatian Post and FINA (Financial Agency) branches, as well as local commercial banks.
The business starter kits contained 525 coins worth €145.50, and were available for purchase for 1,096.27 HRK.
On 3 December 2007, the Central Bank of Cyprus issued mini-starter packs and business kits, so that Cypriots would have enough euro cash before €-Day.
According to the Eurobarometer survey, more than 70% of those citizens who had bought a mini-kit opened it and used the coins after the changeover, while some 20% kept it untouched.
After the changeover, the unsold mini-kits were exported to satisfy the demand of coin collectors abroad.
Cypriot euro coins worth €3.5 million were exported in the first three weeks of January 2008.
The French euro starter packs were made available to the public on 14 December 2001.
Each starter pack contained 19 coins worth €6.35 in total, or a tiny bit over 5 IEP.
(refer to the Belgian set table for info) The first Maltese euro coins were made available to the public on 1 December 2007, as business starter packs worth €131 each were introduced for small businesses to fill up their cash registers with a sufficient amount of euro coins before €-day.
The European Union has a special agreement with Monaco that normates the minting of a limited number of euro coins.
[2] The Netherlands issued two different starter kits, intended to educate its citizens about the euro.
Additional bags of assorted euro coins could be purchased to familiarise oneself with them.
One million starter kits containing the Portuguese euro coins were made available on 17 December 2001.
As part of the euro changeover preparation, Slovakia issued 1,200,000 starter packs for the general public on 1 December 2008.
On 1 December 2006, special starter packs of Slovenian euro coins were made available to professional cash handlers.
[16][failed verification] In 2008 the Vatican City released 6,400 'starter kits'; however, this time the coins featured the now late Benedict XVI.
