The Paris Mint incurred up to €1.2 million in expenses to rectify the error

The Paris Mint (Monnaie de Paris) had to discard 27 million freshly minted coins due to a design dispute with the European Commission.

EU member states can revise their coin designs every fifteen years, subject to approval by the European Commission and other countries within a week.

Ignoring this process, Mint CEO Mark Schwartz rushed to showcase the new coins to French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire. However, the European Commission criticized the design, particularly the visibility of the EU stars.

Consequently, the mint had to scrap the coins and mint new ones urgently, incurring a cost estimated at €700,000 to €1.2 million. Schwartz attributed the mistake to the “French state.”