We might be living in the post-Berlin Wall era but someone in the Italian state mint seems not to have noticed. Most commentators would suggest that the reunification of Germany in the wake of the downfall of Eastern bloc communism was one of the most significant historical events of the last decade but, down at the state mint, they were not impressed.

When a new Italian 1,000 lire coin (approximately 40p) was produced this week, it boldly outlined the confines of the 15 member-states of the European Union. Problem was that, oops, someone had drawn in Germany, right in the centre of the coin's map, with its pre-unification boundaries and minus East Germany.

Bonn and Berlin were not much amused and an embarrassed Italian Treasury Minister, Mr Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, had to step in and send his apologies to Chancellor Helmut Kohl via the German ambassador.

While the Germans fared badly, they can console themselves with the thought that they did better than either Holland or Corsica, both of which fail to show on the coin.

Ireland does gets a look in but only just, inevitably on the extremes of the tiny map.