‘Republic of Catalunya’ fake euro coins land region in hot water
Friday, February 6, 2015 @ 7:39 PM
CATALUNYA’S regional government has come under the microscope for allegedly minting illegal euro coins.
‘Commemorative’ fake euros to mark the last Catalunya Day, or Diada Catalana on its 300th anniversary with the ‘country’ written as the ‘Republic of Catalunya’.
This is considered a criminal offence and is under investigation by Spain’s National Court.
A letter to the ministry of the economy claims that the regional government intended to mint up to 45,000 ‘Republic of Catalunya’ coins – and that six out of the total of seven shops where local people tried to pay with these took them as though they were legal tender.
Catalunya’s regional government says it paid about €2,000 to a coin and stamp collecting company for a handful of ‘test’ coins, but that these did not pass muster and no further orders for them were made.
When the prosecution service ordered a sample of the coins to be sent to them, they were only given one, for a single euro.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com