National designs were not allowed to change until the end of 2008, unless a monarch (whose portrait usually appears on the coins) died or abdicated. The national sides, then 15 (eurozone and Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican who could mint their own), were each designed according to national competitions, though to specifications which applied to all coins such as the requirement of including twelve stars (see euro coins for more). The designs of the 10 to 50-cent coins were intended to show separate states of the European Union (EU), as opposed to the one and two-euro coins showing the 15 states as one and the 1 to 5-cent coins showing the EU's place in the world. The common side was designed by Luc Luycx, a Belgian artist who won a Europe-wide competition to design the new coins. The coin dates from 2001, when euro coins and banknotes were introduced in the 12-member eurozone and its related territories. The coin has been used since 2002, with the present common-side design dating from 2007. All euro coins have a common reverse side and country-specific national sides.
The 50 euro cent coin (€0.50) has a value of half a euro and is composed of an alloy called nordic gold. Map of Europe with the denomination shown in Latin characters
