Euro is a currency that arose, by the standards of history, not so long ago, but already dictates the climate in the world economy along with the US dollar, yen and other “giants” of the international currency market.
Creation Background
When the first coins appeared in the sixth century BC, the ancient Greek city-states immediately began to conclude alliances so that all the money issued by them could be used on the territory of any of these cities.
The most famous attempt to universalize the monetary system was the
Hanseatic League, which existed in the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. It included from 70 to 170 states at different times. In 1379, a monetary union appeared, which provided for the minting of coins of a single sample, which were accepted in the main Hanseatic cities.
In 1865, the Latin Monetary Union, which is considered the prototype of the euro system, was created by Italy, France, Switzerland and Belgium. After the Napoleonic wars, the monetary systems in these countries were practically no different. The weight, material, test and denomination were established, the same for all coins of the countries of the Union, and the metric French monetary system was taken as the basis.
Appearance story
The currency "euro" appeared relatively recently. In 1999, the first non-cash money came into use, and in 2002 cash coins and banknotes were issued. The name of the banknote is derived from the word "Europe", as it is the generally accepted currency of the European Union.
Appearance
All banknotes have a single standard design. On the front side are various photographs of bridges, windows and gates. This symbolizes interconnection and openness. Euro is a currency of different denominations, which easily varies in color: it can be purple, yellow, green, blue, red, gray.
But the coins are made in a more original way: they have only the same front part, and the figure on the back depends on which country it was made in.
Economic characteristic
To date, the euro is the world currency, which ranks second in state reserves, second only to the US dollar. This is very logical, because the total gross product of the EU countries is greater than that of the United States, which used to be traditionally in the first place.
The fact that the euro is the currency that is officially used in all EU countries is, from one point of view, its strength and, on the other, a weakening factor. It turns out that the value of this currency is based on the level of development of the economies of various countries, but this is also its main disadvantage - after all, differences in the degree of development of European countries are very significant. Obviously, France, Germany and Italy are much stronger than, for example, Greece or Ireland. Therefore, the value of the euro often fluctuates and requires substantial support from the stronger and wealthier EU countries.
Euro in Russia
In the Russian market, European money is most often used as a replacement for the American dollar. The exchange of the euro currency into rubles takes place at the rate of about forty rubles for one euro.
In just 11-12 years, this currency managed to develop very well and gain worldwide popularity. If the rate is growing, then the demand for the euro is always steadily increasing. There is also a surge in demand for this currency during the holiday season.
As for bank deposits, last year the rate in Euro currency ranged from 1.5 to 4.5 percent per annum. You can borrow from a thousand euros with an interest rate of 11-15% per annum.