The collection includes 22 coins from 18 countries of the euro zone area:
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany (A, D, F, G, J), Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
PHILHELLENES – LORD BYRON.
George Gordon Byron (London 1788-Missolonghi 1824) was an emblematic figure of European Romanticism and one of the most important poets of the 19th century.
From a very young age, he embraced liberal and philhellenic ideals. His Grand Tour of the Mediterranean in 1809 brought him to Greece, to which he dedicated the second canto of his defining poetic work, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.
The outbreak of the Greek Revolution in 1821 set fire to Byron’s romantic soul. He ultimately moved to Greece in 1823 in order to take part in the struggle and settled in Missolonghi, where he spent much of his fortune on setting up military and naval units. However, he was never to see action, as his life was cut short on 19 April 1824, following a serious illness. His untimely death was a tragic loss and was deeply mourned by the Greeks, but at the same time boosted philhellenic sentiment around the world.
GREEK MYTHOLOGY – THE OLYMPIAN GODS – ARES.
Ares, son of Zeus and Hera, was the god of war. His children from his adulterous affair with Aphrodite, the wife of Hephaistos, included Harmonia (who later wed Cadmos, the founder of Thebes) and his companions in battle, Phobos and Deimos (embodiments of fear and dread, respectively). In contrast with his sister Athena, who represented protection of cities and strategy,
Ares was associated with the blind brutality of war. This explains why he was not popular with the Greeks, who – despite their frequent wars and high regard for military valour – were not a bellicose people. Even his own father, Zeus, in the Iliad calls him the most loathsome of the Olympian gods because of his belligerent nature. Very few temples were devoted to Ares in the Greek world (in Troizina, Geronthrai and Alikarnassos).
As for the Temple of Ares in the ancient agora of Athens, it had originally been erected in some other community of Attica, in honour perhaps of another god, before being moved to the centre of Athens and rededicated to Ares during the reign of Augustus, probably in connection with the Roman cult of Mars Ultor.
I. COMMEMORATIVE CIRCULATION COINShttps://www.electacollections.com/en/
€2 COMMEMORATIVE CIRCULATION COIN DEDICATED TO: “200 YEARS FROM THE FIRST GREEK CONTISTUTION” (maximum issue 745,500 pieces)
. €2 COMMEMORATIVE CIRCULATION COIN DEDICATED TO: “1987-2022 ERASMUS PROGRAMME” (maximum issue 745,500 pieces)
II. COLLECTOR COINS
€200 GOLD COLLECTOR COIN DEDICATED TO: “100 YEARS FROM THE ASIA MINOR DISASTER” (maximum issue 750 pieces)
€100 GOLD COLLECTOR COIN DEDICATED TO: “GREEK MYTHOLOGY – THE OLYMPIAN GODS – ARES” (maximum issue 1,200 pieces)
€50 GOLD COLLECTOR COIN DEDICATED TO: “CULTURAL HERITAGE – THE ANCIENT THEATRE OF EPIDAURUS” (maximum issue 1,500 pieces)
€10 SILVER COLLECTOR COIN DEDICATED TO: “GREEK CULTURE – ANCIENT GREEK TECHNOLOGY – THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM” (maximum issue 2,000 pieces)
€10 SILVER COLLECTOR COIN DEDICATED TO: “GREEK CULTURE – HISTORIANS – XENOPHON” (maximum issue 1,500 pieces)
€10 SILVER COLLECTOR COIN DEDICATED TO: “PHILHELLENES – LORD BYRON” (maximum issue 2,000 pieces)
€6 SILVER COLLECTOR COIN DEDICATED TO: “2022 – INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ARTISANAL FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE” (maximum issue 2,000 pieces)
BLISTER PACK WITH A COLLECTOR SILVER €5 COIN DEDICATED TO: “ENVIRONMENT – ENDEMIC FLORA OF GREECE – PAEONIA PARNASSICA” (maximum issue 5,000 pieces)
BLISTER PACK WITH A COLLECTOR SILVER €5 COIN DEDICATED TO: “200 YEARS FROM THE CHIOS MASSACRE” (maximum issue 5,000 pieces)
III. SPECIAL EDITIONS
BLISTER SET CONTAINING ALL EIGHT DENOMINATIONS OF 2022 GREEK EURO COINS DEDICATED TO: “TOURISM – CHIOS” (maximum issue 7,500 pieces)
CARD BLISTER WITH A €2 COMMEMORATIVE BRILIANT UNCIRCULATED COIN DEDICATED TO: “200 YEARS FROM THE FIRST GREEK CONSTITUTION” (maximum issue 3,000 pieces)
CARD BLISTER WITH A €2 COMMEMORATIVE BRILIANT UNCIRCULATED COIN DEDICATED TO: “1987-2022 ERASMUS PROGRAMME” (maximum issue 3,000 pieces)
€2 COMMEMORATIVE PROOF CIRCULATION COIN DEDICATED TO: “200 YEARS FROM THE FIRST GREEK CONTISTUTION” (maximum issue 1,500 pieces)
€2 COMMEMORATIVE PROOF CIRCULATION COIN DEDICATED TO: “1987- 2022 ERASMUS PROGRAMME” (maximum issue 1,500 pieces)
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.
