Euro: Germany cents

Germany 1 cent, 2004

Weight: 2.27gm
Metal: copper plated steel
Diameter: 16.3mm
Edge: plain
Reverse: globe and denomination
Obverse: Oak branch

Germany 2 cent, 2008

Weight: 3gm

Metal: copper plated steel

Diameter: 16.7mm

Edge: grooved

Obverse: globe and denomination

Reverse: Oak branch

5 cent, 2007

Weight: 3.86 gm

Metal: copper plated steel

Diameter: 21.2mm

Edge: plain

The significance of the oak leaves: The oak tree is the national tree, a symbol of Germany. Thick woodland is the sort of image that Germany has had for many centuries, with about one-third of the country still being forested. German history is full of lores related to the woods, starting with the German tribal chieftain Hermann, also known as Arminius to the Romans, defeated the invading German legions in the murky forests of Teutoburg. Just as we have a stereotype of a sandy place for the word "Arabia", similarly the Romans had a stereotype of a marshy forest for the word "Germany" for a very long time in history. Even in modern times, there are the romantics and the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers in the 19th century. The tree even finds its way into idioms and epithets like the proud German saying "firm as a German oak".

But of late, the great German oaks have been threatened by the menace of pollution. The danger to oaks is greater as compared to most other trees as oaks have a long lifespan of about 1000 years; so they tend to accumulate more poison due to pollution over the long years of their lifespan. The number of trees having damaged crowns(upper section including branches and leaves) has gone upto a record 51% due to pollution as well as parasites and other environmental conditions.

10 cent, 2003

Weight: 4gm

Metal: brass

Edge: grooved

Diameter: 19.7mm

Reverse: map of Europe and denomination

Obverse: Brandenburg gate

20 cent, 2008

Weight: 5.73gm

Metal: brass

Diameter: 22.2mm

Edge: notched

Reverse: Brandenburg gate

50 cent, 2002

The ten cent , twenty cent and the fifty cent coin has the Brandenburg gate on the obverse. The Brandenburg gate is the only remaining one of a series of gates through which one formally entered Berlin. To the North of the gate stands the Reichstag, the German parliament. The gate was commisioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia and was built in 1791.

When the Nazis came to power they used the gate as a political symbol . The gate survived the second world war, and the governments of East Germany and West Germany revived the gate and traffic flowed through freely until the erection of the Berlin wall in 1961.