Frederick II, of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Sicily, took an extraordinary step when he started minting gold coins in 1231. This is because, for many centuries, the Christian West had been shaped purely by silver currency. Frederick II’s gold coins, called augustales, were something special: the quality of the image and their embossing are unique for their time. Augustales are extraordinary coins minted by an extraordinary ruler.

Spain's colonial empire spanned vast parts of Central and South America. These lands, rich in gold and silver, were an important resource for the kings of Spain. The Spanish established mints in their American colonies to produce coins from the precious metals extracted in the New World. The oldest mint on the American continent is the Mexican Mint, which was set up in 1535. Twice a year, the famous silver fleet sailed from the New World back to Spain fully laden with treasures.

Efficient and secure payment systems are the foundation of a stable financial system. The Bundesbank secures and monitors cashless payments in Germany as a financial centre, provides settlement and clearing services and plays an active role in the further development of the single European payment system.

The German government has decided to issue the next €2 commemorative coin in its “Federal States” series as of 3 February 2017, this time dedicated to the German federal state of “Rhineland-Palatinate” (motif: Porta Nigra).

On 30 January 2015, the German Federal government issued a german €2 commemorative coins collector’s coin “25 Years of German Unity”.

Die Deutsche Bundesbank gehört zu den Gründungsmitgliedern des von der Europäischen Kommission eingerichteten Netzwerks der Schlichtungsstellen für Finanzdienstleistungen.

A well functioning economy requires a stable banking system. Banking supervision is therefore responsible for monitoring credit institutions’ business activity and maintaining investor confidence. In Germany, the task of banking supervision is shared by the Bundesbank and the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). In particular, the Bundesbank is in charge of monitoring the credit institutions.

Banking supervision in Germany is carried out by the Bundesbank in cooperation with the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority and the Federal Ministry of Finance as well as external auditors and audit offices of the banking associations.

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