New common 2 euro commemorative coin of 2022, dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the Erasmus programme

In 2022, the Erasmus programme celebrates its 35th anniversary. The coin will be issued in all 19 Member States of the euro area. “Monnaie de Paris” design from Joaquin JIMENEZ, was choosen by European Commission. Coins will be issued from July the first 2022.

This design is a mix of two major elements of the Erasmus programme: the original intellectual inspiration, Erasmus himself, and the allegory of its influence over Europe. The first one is symbolised by one of the most known depictions of Erasmus. The second one is symbolised by a beam of links going across the coin from a beacon to another, representing the numerous intellectual and human exchanges between the European students. As a reference to Europe, some of these links form other stars, born from the synergy between the countries. Figure 35, for the 35th anniversary, comes out from the stars in a contemporary graphical style.

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Greece – 10 euro collection, expansions of Greece, 2021

Collector case of the 8 silver coins. The collection of the 8 silver coins is available in a wooden collector case with the corresponding certificates. The collection includes the following coins: 1830, The first Greek State. The coin depicts Theodoros Kolokotronis.
1864, The Ionian Islands (Heptanese). The coin depicts Ioannis Kapodistrias. 1881, Thessaly – Arta. The coin depicts Rigas Velestinlis (Feraios). 1913, Crete. The coin depicts Eleftherios Venizelos. 1913, Macedonia. The coin depicts Pavlos Melas.
1913, Epirus. The coin depicts Athanasios Tsakalof. 1920, Thrace. The coin depicts Georgios Vizyinos. 1947, The Dodecanese. The coin depicts the Lady of Ro.

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Greece – 5 Euro, First drachma of 1833 bimetallic, 2021

Commemorative coin 5 euro bi-metallic, dedicated to the first coins of the Greek State, the first drachma of 1833. By virtue of King Otto’s Royal Decree of 8 February 1833, the drachma replaced the phoenix and, in August 1833, public revenue offices were explicitly prohibited from accepting Ottoman currency. As stipulated in the same decree, the drachma was to be issued in gold, silver and copper. In a similar vein, the capital was moved from Nafplion to Athens, in order to symbolically reconnect with Greece’s glorious past. The Athens Royal Mint started operations in 1836, but until 1841 only minted the drachma’s copper subdivisions. The minting of silver coins began in 1842. Gold drachmas were minted only in large denominations (20 or 40 drachmas), in a limited edition. By virtue of the Royal Decree of 12 July 1843, the exclusive right to issue drachma notes was granted to the newly founded National Bank of Greece, which maintained this privilege until the establishment of the Bank of Greece in 1928.

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The Committee’s “Greece 2021” Numismatic Programme

The Committee’s “Greece 2021” Numismatic Programme includes a unique three-part collection of 14 collectible coins.

More specifically, it includes:

Two bi-metallic coins, which depict the first two coins of the Greek State:

The Phoenix of 1828.
And the first drachma of 1833.

 

Eight silver coins, with the expansions of the Greek territory:

The first Greek State, with Theodoros Kolokotronis.
The Ionian Islands, with Ioannis Kapodistrias.
Thessaly and Arta, with Rigas Feraios-Velestinlis.
Epirus, with Athanasios Tsakalov.
Macedonia, with Pavlos Melas.
Crete, with Eleftherios Venizelos.
Thrace, with Georgios Vizyinos.
The Dodecanese, with Lady of Ro.

And four gold coins with the historical evolution of the Greek flag:

The flag of the Friendly Society.
The Greek flag of 1821.
The Greek flag of 1822.
The current Greek flag.

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HELLENIC NUMISMATIC PROGRAMME 2021

 

 The Hellenic Numismatic Programme of 2021 is scheduled to include the issuance of the following products:

 I.   €2 COMMEMORATIVE CIRCULATION COIN DEDICATED TO: “200 YEARS SINCE THE GREEK REVOLUTION (maximum issue 1,470,000 pieces)

II. COLLECTOR COINS

 €100 MINI GOLD PLUS COLLECTOR COIN DEDICATED TO: “GREEK MYTHOLOGY – THE OLYMPIAN GODS – APHRODITE” (maximum issue 1,200 pieces)

 €50 MINI GOLD COLLECTOR COIN DEDICATED TO: “CULTURAL HERITAGE – THE PORTARA OF NAXOS” (maximum issue 1,500 pieces)

BLISTER PACK WITH A COLLECTOR SILVER  €5 COIN DEDICATED TO: “ENVIRONMENT – ENDEMIC FLORA OF GREECE – CAMPANULA SAXATILIS” (maximum issue 5,000 pieces)

 €5 SILVER COLLECTOR COIN DADICATED TO: “2021 POPULATION – HOUSING CENSUS” (maximum issue 2,000 pieces)

III.     SPECIAL EDITIONS

 BLISTER SET CONTAINING ALL EIGHT DENOMINATIONS OF 2021 GREEK EURO COINS DEDICATED TO: “TOURISM – NAXOS” (maximum issue 10,000 pieces)

2 EURO COMMEMORATIVE PROOF CIRCULATION COIN DEDICATED TO: “200 YEARS SINCE THE GREEK REVOLUTION” (maximum issue 10,000 pieces)

CARD BLISTER WITH A €2 COMMEMORATIVE BRILIANT UNCIRCULATED COIN DEDICATED TO: “200 YEARS SINCE THE GREEK REVOLUTION” (maximum issue 20,000 pieces)

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The Hellenic Numismatic Programme of 2020

The Ministry of Finance of Greece has announced the Hellenic Numismatic Programme of 2020 which shall include the issue of the following products:

                I.   COMMEMORATIVE CIRCULATION COINS

  • €2 COMMEMORATIVE CIRCULATION COIN DEDICATED TO: “2,500 YEARS SINCE THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE” (maximum issue 735,000 pieces)
  • €2 COMMEMORATIVE CIRCULATION COIN DEDICATED TO: “100 YEARS SINCE THE UNION OF THRACE WITH GREECE” (maximum issue 743,000 pieces)

                     II.  COLLECTOR COINS 

  • €200 GOLD COIN DEDICATED TO: “THE PERSIAN WARS” (maximum issue 750 pieces)
  • €100 MINI GOLD PLUS COIN DEDICATED TO: “GREEK MYTHOLOGY – THE OLYMPIAN GODS – HERMES” (maximum issue 1,200 pieces)
  • €50 MINI GOLD COIN DEDICATED TO: “CULTURAL HERITAGE – ANCIENT MESSENE” (maximum issue 1,500 pieces)
  • €10 SILVER COIN DEDICATED TO: “EUROPA STAR 2020 – GOTHIC” (maximum issue 5,000 pieces)
  • €10 SILVER COIN DEDICATED TO: “2,500 YEARS SINCE THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS” (maximum issue 3,000 pieces)
  • €10 SILVER COIN DEDICATED TO: “2,500 YEARS SINCE THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE” (maximum issue 3,000 pieces)
  • €6 MINI SILVER COIN DEDICATED TO: “75 YEARS SINCE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL RADIO FOUNDATION” (maximum issue 1,200 pieces)
  • €5 SILVER COIN DEDICATED TO: “MYRTIS” (maximum issue 2,500 pieces)
  • BLISTER PACK WITH A COLLECTOR SILVER €5 COIN DEDICATED TO: “150 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF THEOPHILOS” (maximum issue 5,000 pieces)
  • BLISTER PACK WITH A COLLECTOR SILVER  €5 COIN DEDICATED TO: “ENVIRONMENT – ENDEMIC FLORA OF GREECE – IRIS HELLENICA” (maximum issue 5,000 pieces)
  • CARD BLISTER WITH A COLLECTOR SILVER €5 COIN DEDICATED TO: “CENTENARY OF THE ATHENS UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS” (maximum issue 6,000 pieces)

III. SPECIAL EDITIONS

  • BLISTER SET CONTAINING ALL EIGHT DENOMINATIONS OF 2020 GREEK EURO COINS DEDICATED TO: “GREEK TOURISM – LESVOS” (maximum issue 10,000 pieces)
  • €2 COMMEMORATIVE PROOF CIRCULATION COIN DEDICATED TO: “2,500 YEARS SINCE THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE” (maximum issue 5,000 pieces)
  • €2 COMMEMORATIVE PROOF CIRCULATION COIN DEDICATED TO: “100 YEARS SINCE THE UNION OF THRACE WITH GREECE” (maximum issue 2,000 pieces)
  • CARD BLISTER WITH A €2 COMMEMORATIVE BRILIANT UNCIRCULATED COIN DEDICATED TO: “2,500 YEARS SINCE THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE” (maximum issue 10,000 pieces)
  • CARD BLISTER WITH A €2 COMMEMORATIVE BRILIANT UNCIRCULATED COIN DEDICATED TO: “100 YEARS SINCE THE UNION OF THRACE WITH GREECE” (maximum issue 5,000 pieces)

Belgium and France do not put 2 euro commemorative coins into circulation

In the past, Belgium designed and brought to market a large number of €2 commemorative coins. These issuances mostly involved a combination of circulation coins and higher-quality collectors’ coins. In recent years however Belgium has been faced with a large stock of €2 coins in the Public Treasury. Therefore, it would be difficult to reconcile the production and distribution of new commemorative coins with the fact that there still is a huge existing stock of coins. This would go against the principle of efficiency    held in high regard throughout the euro area. The issuance of €2 commemorative coins is not an obligation. Every country is free to issue two such coins per year, after going through an acceptance process.

Belgium has nevertheless decided to issue new €2 coins, but for the time being only as a collector’s item in a coin card. This means that the coins are not put into circulation, although they are €2 coins that are recognized as legal tender in the entire euro area. Their design has been approved at a European level and adequate royal decrees have been issued as a legal basis for these coins.

A similar situation was this year in France. France has issued in 2019 a commemorative 2 euro coin dedicated to the 60th birthday of Asterix. The commemorative 2 euro coin dedicated to Asterix will be minted only for collectors, up to 300,000 coins for the BU version in three different coincards, plus 10,000 coins for the proof version. This very low mintage for a commemorative €2 coin is the result of the European Commission and the European Central Bank recommendations. To their point of view, circulation and commemorative €2 coins should be put into circulation as soon as possible, just after after the strike, in order to avoid the accumulation of large stocks of new coins, as in the past.

Since the french Mint still has a significant stock of 2 euro circulation coins from previous years, it was therefore decided to mint 2019 commemorative coin in BU and proof condition, only for the collectors market.

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Luxembourg 2 euro, Centenary of the Universal Voting Right, 2019

In Luxembourg, the universal right to vote and stand in elections was introduced on 26 October 1919 — even though Luxembourg did not have a powerful feminist movement before the First World War. Before that date, the right to vote was subject to a property qualification and only 25% of men had the right to take part in elections.

However, notwithstanding that right, the active participation of women in politics developed very slowly.

Only one woman managed to enter Parliament in the first general election in 1919. Between 1931 and 1965, the Chamber of Deputies no longer had any female member.  In 1967, the first woman entered the Luxembourg government.

Following the 2009 parliamentary elections, women accounted for only 20% of elected MPs and 27% of ministers. Following the 2011 municipal elections, 4 out of 5 seats on municipal councils are held by men.

Luxembourg was one of the first countries to grant women the right to vote. Where do we stand one hundred years on? In the national elections held on 14 October 2018, 12 of the 60 directly elected members of the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Députés) were women. With the inauguration of the new government in December 2018, the Luxembourg parliament now boasts 15 female members. Luxembourg ranks 69th worldwide in terms of gender equality in parliament.

The design of the new 2 euro coin shows on the left hand the effigy of His Royal Highness, the Grand Duke Henri, and on the right hand a ballot box where a ballot paper is being inserted by a hand. At the bottom is the name of the issuing country ‘LUXEMBOURG’. At the top, in semi-circle form is the inscription ‘Centenaire du suffrage universel’ (Centenary of the universal suffrage) and underneath the inscription ‘1919 – 2019’, the latter being the year of issuance.

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