Croatia began minting its euro coins on Monday at the national mint in Sveta Nedelja west of Zagreb, with Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, and the central bank governor, Boris Vujcic, attending the ceremony.

Croatia is set to become the 20th country in the euro zone on 1 January 2023, nearly a decade after joining the European Union in mid-2013.

Following a public poll which selected the motifs and a tender for designs, Croatian euros will feature a variety of symbols: the €2 coin will feature a map of Croatia and the €1 coin a marten, while the €0.5, €0.2 and €0.1 coins will feature the images of Nikola Tesla. The 5-cents, 2-cents, and 1-cent coins will bear the letters “HR” written in the ancient Glagolitic script.

The rim of the largest, €2 coin, will read “Oh beautiful, oh dear, oh sweet freedom,” – a quote from a poem written by 16th century poet Ivan Gundulic.

“These are all motifs that were ultimately adopted, which represent our statehood, our history, our monetary tradition, our recognizability, and culture,” Plenkovic said.

Starting on 1 January there will be a two-week transition period when the local currency kuna and euro will be used simultaneously as legal tenders.

Croatia will be the first new country to join the euro zone in eight years, since Lithuania in 2015. It will also be the poorest country in the euro zone – according to IMF’s 2021 data, Croatia’s GDP per capita stood at only $16.2k, behind Greece ($19.6k), Latvia ($19.8k), Slovakia ($21.5k), and Lithuania ($22.2k).