Euro Currency Index points). The Euro Currency Index started on 4 January 1971 with 100 points. Before the introduction of the European single currency on 1 January 1999, an exchange rate of 1 Euro = 1.95583 Deutsche Mark was calculated. On April 19, 1971, the Euro Currency Index gained 99.67 points calculated with an all-time low. Until 3 December 1979, the index rose by 68.0 percent to 167.43 points. With the depreciation of the Deutsche Mark against the major currencies, the index fell to mid-1980s. On 3 May 1985, the Euro Currency Index was at level 122.26 points, up by 27.0 percent. The
European Currency Unit A common theme on the coins was usually celebrating European unity, such as celebrating membership of the European Union. In 1989, the government of the Netherlands issued a series of ECU coins from ₠2½ to ₠200, which could be spent in shops in The Hague, during the European Capital of Culture festival. Gibraltar issued commemorative coins from 1993 through 1996. European Currency Unit The European Currency Unit (₠ or ECU, ) was a basket of the currencies of the European Community member states, used as the unit of account of the European Community before being replaced by the euro on