A copper plant in China beat off competition from 11 companies in the United States, Germany, South Korea and elsewhere to provide the metal for euro coins. The plant in Luoyang, in central Henan province, took just one month to produce a 50-tonne sample — despite the fact that the alloy of copper, aluminium, zinc and other metals has never been produced in China before. The alloy passed all tests at the euro mint in Bremen, Germany, which has already started receiving shipments which will total 1,000 tonnes every month for the next three years.

The graphic symbol for the euro was inspired by the Greek letter epsilon, in reference to the cradle of European civilisation and to the first letter of the world "Europe". The parallel lines represent the stability of the euro. The official abbreviation for the euro is "EUR". It has been registered with the International Standards Organisation (ISO), and will be used for all business, financial and commercial purposes.

http://euro.eu.int/euro/