# Euro: Which side is heads and which is tails? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189 "2008-11-11T15:17:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/1 "2008-11-11T15:17:14Z")
OK, so I have a euro in my pocket and I was gong to flip to make a trivial choice (as I often do when the choice is trivial and I can’t decide. You know: pizza for lunch or subs? Something like that.) But when I pulled it out, I couldn’t tell which was heads and which was tales. Of course I could have just assigned a side, but I want the straight dope. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/2 "2008-11-11T15:37:43Z")
Well, I would have said the denomination side is heads and the national side is tails, but apparently [it’s the other way around.](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1748-euro-coin-accused-of-unfair-flipping.html) > [@](#): > > All Euros have a national image on the “heads” side and a common design on the “tails”. Belgium portrays its portly king, Albert, on the heads side. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/3 "2008-11-11T15:38:35Z")
The side that is the same for all countries is the obverse (heads). The side that is different for each country is the reverse (tails). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/4 "2008-11-11T15:43:56Z")
And, of course, [Wikipedia confuses the issue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obverse_and_reverse) even more by stating: > [@](#): > > Regarding the euro, some confusion regarding the obverse and reverse of the euro coins exists. Officially, the common side is the obverse and the national side is the reverse.[citation needed] And then, the picture to the right of the passage shows Euros, denomination-side up, with the caption: > [@](#): > > The euro coins’ reverse sides. edit: Hmm…this is really a more challenging question than I would have thought. Looking online, there are coin collecting sites that agree with The New Scientist article above, and there’s other sites that agree with my original (and **silenus** ’s) assumption that the common side was the heads side. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/5 "2008-11-11T15:48:16Z")
From the horse’s mouth (the [ECB](http://www.ecb.int/euro/coins/html/index.en.html)): > [@](#): > > The obverse sides show country-specific designs… ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/6 "2008-11-11T15:53:01Z")
So, if a country chooses (like Belgium) to put its king’s head on the national side, that’s still “tails”, despite the fact that it depicts a head. I wonder what genius in Brussels (Belgium!) thought \*that \*one up. Edit: **jjimm** ’s ECB cite wasn’t there when I posted! That makes more sense… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/7 "2008-11-11T15:53:40Z")
> [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](#): > > So, if a country chooses (like Belgium) to put its king’s head on the national side, that’s still “tails”, despite the fact that it depicts a head. I wonder what genius in Brussels (Belgium!) thought \*that \*one up. No, according to **jjimm** ’s cite, country-specific side is the obverse, i.e. “heads.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/8 "2008-11-11T16:56:47Z")
You know, I think this is one of those cases where the government can say whatever it wants and people will just use the definition they’ve used for several hundred years. The face showing the amount is the _cruz_ (tails), the one showing the face (or, in this case, other national stuff) is the _cara_ (head). The fact that several countries have placed actual heads on their “national side” for one or more denominations reinforces this. If Brussels absolutely wanted people to call the common side “heads” they needed to put the denomination on the collectible side and ban heads from being shown on it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/9 "2008-11-11T17:15:05Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Y > If Brussels absolutely wanted people to call the common side “heads” they needed to put the denomination on the collectible side and ban heads from being shown on it. Brussels doesn’t. Read **jjimm** ’s reply again: (or look one post above yours) > [@](#): > > The obverse sides show country-specific designs… “Obverse” means the heads side. “Reverse” means tails. Brussels is saying the common side showing the denomination is _tails_, and the country-specific side is _heads_. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/10 "2008-11-11T17:17:43Z")
Heads or harps lads? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/11 "2008-11-11T17:46:27Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Heads or harps lads? It is indeed an Irish Euro. From what I’m reading here though, the harp would be the heads side. Harps or tails lads? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/12 "2008-11-11T18:02:19Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > It is indeed an Irish Euro. From what I’m reading here though, the harp would be the heads side. Harps or tails lads? [From wikipedia:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heads_or_Tails) “In Ireland it is usually called Heads or Harps, since the reverse side of Irish coins (both Euro and the former currency, the Irish punt) always shows a harp.” [Another Cite:](http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A31655513) “In Ireland, which now uses the euro, the call is ‘Heads or harps’. Irish coins up to about 1800 had a head on one side and a harp on the other. From 1800 to 1920, there was a head but no harp. Since 1920, there has been a harp but no head. But due to the globalisation of World Culture, the old ‘heads or harps’ call is dying out.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/13 "2008-11-11T19:09:27Z")
For most Euro coins, it’s obvious: The side with a head on it is heads. If the Irish coins existed apart from any other countries, it’d be debateable, but given that the national side is heads in every case where it’s clear, you have to assume that that’s the case in Ireland, too. Otherwise, an Irishman who pulled a coin out of his pocket and tossed it would’t know what he got, if the continent side came up: He’d have to check what country it was from (most coins in Ireland are the Irish ones, but all the others show up, too). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/14 "2008-11-11T19:23:58Z")
So the harp is the new head? That’s messed it up, hasn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euro-which-side-is-heads-and-which-is-tails/472189/15 "2008-11-11T20:51:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Brussels doesn’t. Read **jjimm** ’s reply again: (or look one post above yours) > > “Obverse” means the heads side. “Reverse” means tails. Brussels is saying the common side showing the denomination is _tails_, and the country-specific side is _heads_. Ah sorry, I misunderstood the obverse/reverse terms.