Beware of 'fake' looking 2 euro coins

baronflyguy

Hey Guys
Not sure if people know about this or not and normally I don't pay much attention to these things but since it happened to my sister here in the south east recently I thought it would be worth mentioning.

She showed me the coin in question and I must say unless she hadn't mentioned it to me I would have easily accepted it as a EU country specific 2 euro coin. She told me that it was only brought to her attention when she was in a shop. The shop assistant recognised it immediately and told her they wouldn't accept it.

Basically the Turkish Lira coin has very similar characteristics to our 2 euro coin. All 2 euro coins have a common reverse side which the Turkish Lira coin doesn't have.
The new lira coin was introduced into circulation in 2008 so it probably something people dont know much about unless of course you have been to Turkey in the last year or two.

So check you change when receiving 2 euros coins.
make sure one side looks likes this.

If it doesn't then it is NOT a 2 euro coin.
(before anyone tells me why do I have two images above its because there is 2 versions. Slight variation occurred after 2007 to add more of the eastern block of europe included in the coin)

Here is some wiki links to explain more about the two coins in question
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_euro_coins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_lira

BFG

Cabaal

Very easy spot it, besides colour it looks nothing like a 2E

SUNGOD

are they the exact same dimensions?
i can understand you could be passed one hidden among genuine coins
but they are very different apart from colour
i suppose the elderly or visually impaired might get them mixed up if they are the same size

KingLoser

Yes lads.. it is very easy to tell them apart when you've just been given a warning.... :rolleyes:

forbairt

Already fell prey to one of these ... in amongst other coins since then I've been checking any 2's I've been given

baronflyguy

Cabaal wrote: »

Very easy spot it, besides colour it looks nothing like a 2E

Well I'm colour blind and I dont look at all my change when handed it, to me if the colours look similar I assume it could be dirty through wear and tear, so personally I wouldn't have noticed it before now.

I have a huge used vodka bottle at home in my bedroom where I throw all my loose coins from my pockets every night. It is nearly full so I should be counting it and putting it into money bags soon, so I wonder will i find one of the turkish lira coins amongst the 2 euros.

baronflyguy

SUNGOD wrote: »

are they the exact same dimensions?

Not 100% sure of exact dimensions but if you put one with a 2 euro the dimensions look the same.

This is a wikipedia extract talking about similar 2 euro coins

The coins were minted in several of the participating countries, many using blanks produced at Birmingham Mint, Birmingham, England. A problem has arisen in differentiation of coins made using similar blanks and minting techniques. The Turkish 1 Lira coin resembles very much the €2 coin in both weight and size, and both coins seem to be recognised and accepted by slot machines as being a €2 coin, which is roughly worth 4 times more. However there are now vending machines which have been upgraded to refuse the 1 lira coin. Similarly the 10 Thai baht coin, first minted in 1988, which is of similar shape and size to a €2 coin but worth around 10 times less has recently been appearing in the coin boxes of vending machines throughout Europe and being given back as change in some smaller establishments. The new 50 qəpik coin of the Azerbaijani manat also seems like a €2 coin. (The new coin set of the country contains coins seems like some euro coins.) The Philippine 10 peso coin is also similar to the 2 Euro coin making it easy to pass for a Euro in some establishments in the EU.

magick

on a side note did anyone see the homer simpson euro coin?

turbobaby

unreal! I am in thailand at the moment and bought two pancakes in koh tao and received in my change a 2 coin instead of a 10 baht coin! So I got two pancakes for better than free!

jonnyfingers

I have one that looks very real from the front. But on the back they have a stick figure and a euro sign! It is much lighter than a real coin though so gets rejected by a lot of coint machines.

I'll try and find it and take a picture.

Low Energy Eng

jonnyfingers wrote: »

I have one that looks very real from the front. But on the back they have a stick figure and a euro sign! It is much lighter than a real coin though so gets rejected by a lot of coint machines.

I'll try and find it and take a picture.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Irlanda_2009_uem.png

something like that ^^^^

I actually accused a barman of giving me fake 2 euro coins when they're actually real...Felt like an idiot when i woke up the next morning and looked it up! :pac:

nkay1985

Low Energy Eng wrote: »

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Irlanda_2009_uem.png

something like that ^^^^

I actually accused a barman of giving me fake 2 euro coins when they're actually real...Felt like an idiot when i woke up the next morning and looked it up! :pac:

That's real is it?

jonnyfingers

Low Energy Eng wrote: »

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Irlanda_2009_uem.png

something like that ^^^^

I actually accused a barman of giving me fake 2 euro coins when they're actually real...Felt like an idiot when i woke up the next morning and looked it up! :pac:

That's it. But it can't be real. Different weight, slight difference in colour, also Italy looks more like a penis on it!

Edit: no it looks like it is real.

http://www.coinnews.net/2008/02/26/winning-design-for-new-euro-coin-announced-3948/

That won a competition! Must have been a 2 year old's design.

Stokolan

Yeah I had the same coin a while back and thought it was Fake. But it seems it was a commemorative coin. theres a few different ones that have come out.

From here http://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/coins/comm/html/comm_2009.en.html

#
Euro area countries

€2 commemorative side
Feature: 10th anniversary of Economic and Monetary Union

Description: The coin shows a stick figure which merges into the € symbol. It seeks to convey the idea of the single currency and, by extension, Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) being the latest step in Europe’s long history of trade and economic integration.

The coin is issued by each euro area country and shows the name of the country as well as the legend ‘EMU 1999-2009’ in the respective language(s).

The design was chosen out of a shortlist of five by members of the public across the European Union voting online. It was created by George Stamatopoulos, a sculptor from the Minting department at the Bank of Greece.

Issuing volume: varies from country to country
Issuing date: 1 January 2009

You can see all teh different variations of coins on that site.

Jamiekelly

Yeah it is. I got one of them before lol. It's supposed to be one made for some anniversary of the EU or something

mike65

Its art!

dayshah

Though people might pass off non-Euro coins as Euro no-one would ever forge a coin. Too much hassle for too little profit. Its easier and more profitable to forge notes.

Moral of the story, check your change as mistakes cannot be rectified afterwards.

alco.29

I got two of them up in Killarney last week ya wouldnt even notice the difference really unless your lookin... i just gave the two of them to your man yesterday on the tramore road for a punnet of strawberries..that way we both got robbed

dayshah

alco.29 wrote: »

I got two of them up in Killarney last week ya wouldnt even notice the difference really unless your lookin... i just gave the two of them to your man yesterday on the tramore road for a punnet of strawberries..that way we both got robbed

You got left with two worthless coins (possibly by mistake) and then consciously chose to steal some stawberries.

Any reason why I shouldn't think you are a scumbag?

alco.29

dayshah wrote: »

You got left with two worthless coins (possibly by mistake) and then consciously chose to steal some stawberries.

Any reason why I shouldn't think you are a scumbag?

me? Should i of brought them to the barracks instead

dayshah

If you get dodgy coins from a shop and then pass them off in the same shop thats fine with me. But if you know they are dodgy and buy strawberries from innocent person just trying to make a bit of money, then I think thats being a scumbag. Why not just rob the strawberries straight out?

baronflyguy

I emptied my piggy bank jar recently and I found the 1 Turkish 2 euro lookalike coin when doing the sorting....and here was me opening this thread originally to warn others to check their change

@alco.29 - yep it is bad you knowingly deceived someone else.

alco.29

Sorry lads for being a hardened criminal. I assure you that i will be going to confession in the morning and god can judge me then.....................

dayshah

alco.29 wrote: »

Sorry lads for being a hardened criminal. I assure you that i will be going to confession in the morning and god can judge me then.....................

Or you could make amends by giving the person sitting in the rain their €4.

aws

There are some saints on this site! Would you pick a fiver up off the ground knowing it didnt belong to you?

unit 1

Got one today a, 2 lari from georgia, dont know how to post link. Easy enough to spot if you examine your coins, but if like me you dont, or you are a young kid it would pass.

SheFiend

dayshah wrote: »

Though people might pass off non-Euro coins as Euro no-one would ever forge a coin. Too much hassle for too little profit. Its easier and more profitable to forge notes.

Ahem... the Romans did.

kkdela6

one of my friends brought back a few coins from Thailand that looked exactly like 2 euro coins. Not sure what they are worth in Thai money but definitely a hell lot less than 2 euro. He bought me a pint in dublin using them just to prove a point.. I suppose my morals went out the window when i supped away on a creamy free pint of guiness.

Guramoogah

The Thai 10-baht coin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-baht_coin