“Money has been called the human artifact that confirms the impossibility of disentangling the cultural and the symbolic from the economic.”  William Sewell

On 1st January 2002, the launch of the Euro notes and coins not only replaced 12 different currencies across Western Europe marking an economic and political revolution but created an irreversible effect on the cultural and social fabric of Europe and its citizens. 
“Why must we give up the drachma within Greece? She means more to us than just our money. She is a mirror of who we are. She's in our math books, our history books, our folk tales, and our daily parlance. She's everywhere.” 
This reaction from a Greek citizen captures the essence of the transformations and reconstructions of identity within Europe.

While opponents of the European Union's common currency project expressed their concern that the abandonment of national currencies would “dilute” their national identity, even strong supporters were forced to recognize that “for some people, the change will almost feel like a change of identity.” 
Moreover, this reaction and outcry acknowledges the role of currency's design and imagery in constructing, altering & re-creating political, social, historical & cultural memories apart from the conventional economic connections and consequences.
Currency notes & coins, as this research reveals, are artifacts that open a rare window into their originating cultures representing their stories, memories and identities via the symbols, iconography, metaphors, and images emblazoned on them. The intricate patterns, national heroes, revered places, unusual flora and fauna inscribed; configure and construct a distinctive, collective culture of memoirs envisioned by its issuing nations. The juxtaposition of icons and symbols, both real and imagined, are testimonials to their network of social images, relations and realities that stand witness to the deep running memories of their shared existence, experience and identities. 
This research focuses on the newest entrant to the world of money, the Euro, representing a confederation above the traditional, single nation; shouldering a larger responsibility than just monetary integration which is recognized and reflected in its imagery. The notes illustrate a common design communicating a powerful message towards a united continent while the coins reveal diverse, distinctive and national heritage on one side and its integrated, challenging and unified future on the other; capturing Europe's present-day dichotomy. Even though the coins are lower in economic value; they supersede the notes in historical, political and cultural significance, an evidence of money's unconventional role.  
Using semiotics and content analysis from the visual-communications literature, this paper argues that money is not merely a medium of exchange but also a medium of communication, by researching the imagery on the Euro notes and coins, a flamboyant illustration of story-telling, memory and identity formation within our contemporary societies.