Council Regulation (EC) No 46/2009 of 18 December 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 2182/2004 concerning medals and tokens similar to euro coins

1 Subject to Articles 3 and 4, the production and sale of medals and tokens, and their importation and distribution for sale or for other commercial purposes, shall be prohibited in the following circumstances: (a) when the terms “euro” or “euro cent” or the euro symbol appear on their surface; (b) when their size is inside the reference band; or (c) when a design appearing on their surface is similar to: (i) any design, or parts thereof, appearing on the surface of euro coins, including in particular the terms “euro” or “euro cent”, the 12 stars of the European Union, the image of the geographical representation and the numerals, in the way depicted on euro coins; or (ii) those symbols representative of national sovereignty of Member States, as depicted on euro coins, including in particular the effigies of the Head of State, the coat of arms, the Mint marks, the Mint master marks, the name of the Member State; (iii) the edge shape or the edge design of euro coins; or (iv) the euro symbol.

2 The Commission shall specify: (a) whether a metallic object can be regarded as a medal or token within the meaning of Article 1(c); (b) whether a medal or a token falls within the prohibition of paragraph 1 of this Article. Subject to paragraph 1 of this Article, the Commission shall take into consideration, inter alia, the quantities of medals and tokens produced, the selling price, the packaging, the inscriptions on the medals and tokens and advertisement of them.’;

The Commission may grant specific authorisations to use the terms “euro” or “euro cent” or the euro symbol on the surface of medals and tokens, under controlled conditions of use, in cases where no risk of confusion exists. In such cases, the economic operator concerned within a Member State shall be clearly identifiable on the surface of the medal or token and, when the medal or token bears an associated nominal value, the indication “Not legal tender” must be stamped on the obverse or the reverse of the medal or token.’

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.