History of the euro midnight on 1 January 1999, when the national currencies of participating countries (the eurozone) ceased to exist independently in that their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other, effectively making them mere non-decimal subdivisions of the euro. The euro thus became the successor to the European Currency Unit (ECU). The notes and coins for the old currencies, however, continued to be used as legal tender until new notes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002 (having been distributed in small amounts in the previous December). Beginning on 1 January 1999, all bonds and other forms of
Currency symbol Currency symbol A currency symbol is a graphic symbol used as a shorthand for a currency's name, especially in reference to amounts of money. Although several former currency symbols were rendered obsolete by the adoption of the euro, having a new and unique currency symbol implementation of which requires the adoption of new Unicode and type formats has now become a status symbol for international currencies. The European Commission considers the global recognition of the euro sign part of its success. In 2009, India launched a public competition to replace the ₨ ligature it shared with neighbouring countries. It finalised