It's a collector's bonanza and a treasury minister's nightmare: The European map on Italy's new 1,000-lire coin depicts a split Germany. At first the Italian mint said the map was not to be taken literally, that it was an "artistic interpretation" of European geography. But Treasury Minister Ciampi today overruled the mint and said a fixed coin reflecting the 1990 unification will soon be in circulation.
Making Change
It's a collector's bonanza and a treasury minister's nightmare: The European map on Italy's new 1,000-lire coin depicts a split Germany. At first the Italian mint said the map was not to be taken literally, that it was an "artistic interpretation" of European geography. But Treasury Minister Ciampi today overruled the mint and said a fixed coin reflecting the 1990 unification will soon be in circulation.
