Euro banknotes and coins first entered circulation across the euro area in 2002. The euro had already existed as an accounting and electronic currency from 1 January 1999, when exchange rates between participating national currencies were permanently fixed.
The physical cash launch took place on 1 January 2002. Euro notes and coins replaced national cash such as the German mark, French franc, Italian lira and Spanish peseta. The changeover was one of the largest currency transitions in history.
The euro is issued within the Eurosystem, consisting of the European Central Bank and the national central banks of euro-area countries. A common mix-up is treating 1999 as the cash launch date; 1999 marked the currency’s non-cash beginning, while 2002 marked its everyday cash arrival.