In 2003, a 1 euro banknote was seriously discussed, especially in Italy.
The proposal, put forward by Giulio Tremonti, Minister of Economy and Finance from June 2001 to July 2004, sparked a political debate and recorded the favourable view of the majority of Italians.
The idea of imitating the USA, accustomed to the 1 dollar banknote, seemed able to curb post-euro inflation, attributed in Italy to a particularly unfavourable exchange rate (1,936.27 lire per 1 euro). At the time, moreover, the euro-dollar exchange rate was around 1.20 in favour of the European currency.
Following a poll (84% of voters voted in favour of introducing the new 1 euro denomination), a competition was launched through the website banconote.it, concluding with the award of the winning sketch at the Riccione Numismatic Congress in 2003.
Scan of the winning 1 euro banknote proposal. The signature at upper left was added by Wim Duisenberg at the presentation described below; the design was never issued.
On 17 September 2003, a copy of the sketch was brought to the attention of ECB Governor Wim Duisenberg by Professor Guido Crapanzano, Italy’s former representative on the jury for euro banknotes. The meeting took place in Frankfurt during an exhibition on the over three hundred designs that had taken part in the euro selection process. Duisenberg pointed out that the ECB had received an opposite request from Germany — for a 5 euro coin. He then gladly signed the sketch, precisely at the point where his signature appeared on the other denominations, and commented: «non approvo, ma neanche disapprovo» (I do not approve, but nor do I disapprove).
The prospects of having a 1 euro banknote (and a 2 euro note as well) faded shortly afterwards. On 9 October 2003, the Ministry of the Treasury, through its official website, issued the following note:
Long lead times for the 1 euro banknote
All decisions regarding the 1 euro banknote have been deferred. The Governing Council of the European Central Bank has in fact postponed the decision on whether to adopt the 1 euro banknote until the second series of the single currency is issued, between 2005 and 2010. No government represented at the meetings of the Eurogroup — the twelve finance ministers of the euro area — has expressed opposition to the idea of creating the new 1 and 2 euro banknotes; on the contrary, ECB President Wim Duisenberg has been asked to analyse in which member countries such a need is felt. It is, however, specified from Frankfurt, the ECB’s headquarters, that at least two or three years will have to pass between the decision to print 1 and 2 euro banknotes and the moment they are put into circulation.
On 18 November 2004, the ECB Governing Council announced definitively that it would not revise the denominations of euro banknotes and would not issue 1 or 2 euro notes. It cited insufficient demand among most euro area citizens, higher costs for printing and processing, and extra inefficiency for sectors such as retail and vending machines.
Coins carried the lowest values
The euro system separated the lowest everyday values from banknotes. According to the European Commission, regular euro coins are issued in eight denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, plus 1 and 2 euro. Unlike banknotes, which share a common design across the euro area, euro coins have a common side and a national side.
That difference helps explain why the 1 euro proposal felt culturally charged. It was not only a technical question about paper and metal. It touched habits, memory and perception. In Italy, where the lira conversion rate was 1 euro to 1,936.27 lire, the new prices also had to be mentally translated into numbers that looked very different from the old ones.
The official conversion rate was fixed before cash entered circulation. From 1 January 1999, the euro already existed for financial markets and accounting. Cash arrived three years later, on 1 January 2002, and the practical learning curve moved from institutions to shops, wallets and kitchen tables. The broader launch story is covered in the article on the first euro banknotes in 2002.
A proposal, not a missing denomination
The 1 euro proposal shows how the denomination structure was debated even after the launch, and how the line between coin and banknote is partly a practical choice rather than a law of nature. There is no need to turn it into a rarity myth: its interest is precisely that it remained a documented proposal, not a hidden issue.
