World coins chat: Andorra

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The Principality of Andorra is a country in South West Europe encapsulated between Spain and France. It has a popularion of 85,000 and is one of Europe's microstates. The official language is Catalan, which is the second most spoken language in Spain.


Flag of Andorra

History
Andorra is the result of a power struggle between the Catalan Bishop of Urgell and the French Count of Foix, who agreed in 1278 to share the territory of what is currently Andorra. Centuries later the title passed to the French King Henry IV, who in 1607 declared Andorra to be a principality with the French Head of State and the Bishop of Urgell as co-princes. This situation still exists today, with the French title passed on to President of the French Republic since the abolition of the last French monarchy in 1871.

During the Napoleonic Wars Andorra was shortly annexed by the French Empire and merged with the Catalonian region of Puigcerdà. Andorra's independence was restored after Napoleon's defeat in 1814 and the resulting Congress of Vienna (1815).

Similar to Spain, Andorra was the scene of political unrest in the 1930's. France occupied Andorra in 1933 and again from 1936 to 1940. During World War 2 Andorra remained neutral and was an important smuggling route. After World War 2 Andorra became less isolated and developed as a popular tourist destination, most notably for its ski resorts. Besides that Andorra is also a tax haven with low tariffs, although recent agreements with the EU has limited this somewhat.

Currency
Andorra never had its own currency and used a mix of what was available in neighbouring Spain and France. Coins denominated in Diner were solely issued for collectors and never had any monetary validity. When France and Spain switched to Euro in 1999, Andorra followed and from 2002 mainly Spanish Euro coins were issued for circulation in Andorra, but they quickly mixed with Euro coins from other countries.

After long negotiations with the EU regarding Andorra's tax haven status, the tiny country was given the right to mint its own Euro coins from 2014. The 1 and 2 Cents are only issued in sets and therefore quite rare. The other denominations are fairly easy to find with their prices quickly dropping to reasonable levels when it became apparent that supply exceeded demand.

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/andorre-1.html
And even in common circulation it remains fair to find, like my €2 2015.
Administrateur du catalogue, référent de nombreuses nations antiques et de la Lorraine.
Catalogue administrator, numerous Antique nations and Lorraine referee.

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