(FORTUNE Magazine) – For all the talk about the euro's impact on the global economy, there remains an unanswered key question: What will the actual coin of the eurorealm look like? While euro bank notes and coins won't hit the street for three more years, heavily guarded sites across Europe are busy printing, pressing, and storing the euro. Already the new currency has hit some snags. Early French coin prototypes had to be melted down after their edges didn't match those approved for the blind. And Germany had to chuck its first batch because the stars slanted the wrong way.

There may be even more confusion in store. Last year, in a concession to nationalists sore about abandoning their currencies, the European Monetary Institute decided to allow member states to come up with their own designs for one side of the coins. As a result, there will be nearly 40 different coins in circulation. Minted in eight denominations from 1 cent to 2 euros, each coin will have a common side: a map of the EU with 12 stars. But soon a Belgian tourist in Milan will be able to buy a Coke with Spanish coins adorned with an image of King Juan Carlos. A prosaic eagle will fly over two of Germany's coins; Italy, drawing on its rich artistic history, submitted eight designs, including a reproduction of Botticelli's Venus; the Netherlands kept it real with a likeness of Queen Beatrix; and Ireland settled for just a harp and the word "Eire." Even the tiny "satellite states"--the Vatican, Monaco, and San Marino--may be given the go-ahead to design their own coin faces. All of this has led to some outbreaks of factionalism: A proposal by the Vatican to press a likeness of the Pope onto its coins was sneered at by France.

The bills should spark fewer squabbles. After years of planning, the final designs were all dreamed up by bureaucratic elites. The seven denominations, ranging from 5 to 500 euros, will be adorned on both sides with idealized monuments, fictional gateways, and bridges--all of which were designed to be non-nation-specific.

--Tyler Maroney