So, three months ago, Belgium proposed the introduction of a commemorative Waterloo €2 coin. But, because it represented the country’s most humiliating military defeat, France vetoed it.
Instead of giving up, Belgium went away and found an obscure law stating that any country in the eurozone could issue any new coins it wanted, providing they’re in an irregular denomination. So it invented a €2.5 coin, and minted 70,000 of those to commemorate Waterloo instead.
How has France taken this? To be fair, incredibly sanguinely. However, this year is also the 500th anniversary of the French victory at Marignano, and Italy recently was among the nations which similarly vetoed plans for a commemorative €2 coin.
