0 Euro - Wattenscheid

The 0 Euro souvenir note program, administered through a licensing arrangement with the European Central Bank, allows municipalities and tourist sites to issue legally printed but non-legal-tender notes as collectibles. Oberthur Fiduciaire handles the print run for much of the series, applying the same security features used on genuine euro notes — including the distinctive feel of intaglio printing — which is precisely why the ECB approval process exists at all.

Wattenscheid, a former independent city absorbed into Bochum in 1975 against considerable local protest, has maintained a stubborn civic identity ever since. That ongoing identity politics is what makes a souvenir note like this one commercially viable nearly five decades after the merger.