The end of last week saw the euro decline in value versus the US dollar.

Now we know the real reason why: News must have reached the currency traders that a euro-coin in Spain was discovered to have been re-engraved with the image of one Homer J. Simpson.

Don Juan Carlos’s austerely regal Bourbon half-profile topped by a full head of curls had morphed seamlessly into the pop-eyed, big-nosed, bald-headed features of beer-glugging Homer Simpson, complete with his 5 o’clock shadow.

“The coin must have been done by a professional,” Jose Martinez said when he found it in the cash register of his shop in the Asturian town of Aviles. “It’s an impressive piece of work.”

I can’t think of a more economically-destabilizing event than having “The Simpsons” imposed upon your cash. European dough goes d’oh!