EuroBillTracker

Eehmm. Makes me quite disappointed. I'm gonna see a lot of those dull coins in a few years. Why, oh why not something actually interesting?
They should've included either word "Eesti" or "Estonia" in all coins. That way some beautiful design might've won.
But in the other, hand the 3% of Estonian population has spoken and that's their decision. I naturally really think it's their complete right to choose whatever they want to choose. Thinking about what others might think would of course be only stupid.
But anyway.. I'd much more liked to see some more interesting coins in my hands..

What a load of crap. At least the Irish coins won;t be the most boring ones any more. Actually, I think that honour currently falls to Belgium, and possibly Holland and Luxembourg, but the Irish ones are way down the bottom too

I actually love the Irish coins (and they're pretty rare down here). Nothing whatever to do with the really boring king's faces ones.

Craft wrote:
"There are only few countries in Europe whose silhouettes make possible such an impressive and attractive design as our homeland does. Such a design is easily remembered and does not require any supplementary comments." (my unofficial transl.)

What the hell? I don't think there's anything attractive about Estonia's shape.

I think they chose one of the crappiest designs. #8 was my fav but I could have lived with the coat of arms on the coins. Oh well, at least I won't find too many Estonian coins in Austria.

I think options 1 is the best ! It's easy the recognize as Estonian...

Estonians might have different thoughts about the shape of their country. Under the Soviet rule for 50 years must make you think differently and show your independent region to all Europeans with proud.

LeBaron wrote:Estonians might have different thoughts about the shape of their country. Under the Soviet rule for 50 years must make you think differently and show your independent region to all Europeans with proud.

I think you hit the bull's eye here, talking about the Soviet rule and independency.

But thinking neutrally, I'd say ~everyone knows Italy by shape, whereas Estonia is really not at all that distinctive. Similarly, Finns think that Finland has a very special shape because it resembles a person (woman), but I'm not at all sure if foreigners share that view.

BTW, I like the Irish coins even if they all have the same image throughout the set. A harp reminds about music and culture, and it's not a pompous symbol.

Similarly, Finns think that Finland has a very special shape because it resembles a person (woman), but I'm not at all sure if foreigners share that view.

What kind of women do you have in Finland?

Jasomirgott wrote:

Similarly, Finns think that Finland has a very special shape because it resembles a person (woman), but I'm not at all sure if foreigners share that view.

What kind of women do you have in Finland?

http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/maiden.html

Oh noooo! Such a dull set! I can't believe this! Estonia has a rich cultural heritage and they could have put there some nice buildings or something.

Jasomirgott wrote:

Similarly, Finns think that Finland has a very special shape because it resembles a person (woman), but I'm not at all sure if foreigners share that view.

What kind of women do you have in Finland?

During thousands of years evolution, Finnish women have got their gravitation point very low. This helps them to keep up on a slippery surface during wintertime.

Damn those new estonian coins look boring! I would have liked to see number one or some other.

One aspect should be noted though. The Estonian coins will be special in one way: none of the other countries has got a map on the national side, so far.

I wish they published the other 124 proposals that didn't reach the finals so that we could see how bad the worst entries were.

So, I'll soon have to ask my favourite finn friend to send me the new estonian coins... well, soon, I mean 2007.

I am a bit disappointed by the choice either. I hope the slovenian coins will be nicer.

Olivier wrote:I am a bit disappointed by the choice either.

Me too

Olivier wrote:I hope the slovenian coins will be nicer.

I hope they will keep the nature theme of the current Slovenian tolar
(BTW the 2 tolar coin bears Estonia's national bird, the barn swallow )

I read one more discussion forum in Estonian. Most writers seem very or rather happy with the choice. Many think indeed that the contour line of the Estonian borders is very special, and some even draw a parallel to Italy. A few make a notion though that foreigners might not consider the shape of Estonia quite that fascinating...

What surprised me somewhat is that quite a lot of them think the winning design is very beautiful. Maybe the design is seen in a patriotic way, and most comments indeed reflect national pride (not in a negative way but maybe somewhat clannishly) as the motivation for this choice.

Some have pointed out a detail that I hadn't noticed before: the map on the original black&white entry and the one on the enhanced coloured version are different. The difference is an area called Petseri or Petserimaa in the south-eastern corner, and it seems to be a disputed area between Estonia and Russia. It was shown on the original design but has been removed from the enhanced one.