Eén euromuntstuk voor België en Luxemburg in 2005 (en)

The heads of both the Belgian King Albert and the Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg will figure on what will become Europe's first bi-national euro coin.

The governments of Belgium and Luxembourg have decided to release common 1-euro coins from 1 January 2005, celebrating the start of the Luxembourg EU presidency.

A spokesman of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the EUobserver that the two countries also want to symbolically confirm their close political relationship.

The joint 1-euro coins, with the heads of both royal highnesses next to each other, will be put into normal circulation.

However, the pieces are not meant to replace the current, seperate euro coins of the two countries.

Under the rules by the European Central Bank, euro zone countries are allowed to issue one "special edition" of their coins every year.

The amount of special joint coins that will be produced is still unclear according to Mr Romain Coenen, the director of the Belgian Royal Mint.

Long before the introduction of the euro, Belgium and Luxembourg had already formed a monetary Union in 1923.