C o m m e m o r a t i v e   C o i n s 
 
 
⇑ 2004 ⇑
2005
Image Country Date Feature Ref. Volume  
 
🔎		 Luxembourg 15 Feb. 2005 50th birthday of Grand Duke Henri, 5th anniversary of his accession to the throne and 100th anniversary of the death of Grand Duke Adolphe
2nd coin of the Grand-Ducal Dynasty series		 20001
20002
20005 		2,769,000  
 

 
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Description : The coin shows the portraits of Grand Dukes Henri and his great‐great‐grandfather Adolph, who lost the Duchy of Nassau as a result of the Prussian annexation in 1866, looking to the right. After the extinction of the Dutch royal house in the male line, he became Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890, as only male succession applied there. The model for the portrait of Adolphe was created by the sculptor and medallist Thomas Vinçotte (1850‐1925), the portrait was created by Yvette Gastauer‐Claire, whose initials "gc" appear on the left lapel of the bust. The design concept comes from the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg - BCL (Luxembourg Central Bank). Below the portraits are their names ‐ each in two lines ‐ as well as the year of birth "HENRI * 1955" for Henri and the year of death "ADOLPHE † 1905" for Adolph. The inscription "GRAND‐DUCS DE LUXEMBOURG" (Grand Dukes of Luxembourg) is at the top. The ring contains the twelve stars of Europe in between the letters of the country's name "LËTZEBUERG" (Luxembourg). The year "2005" is grouped in two parts around the 6 o'clock star, flanked on the left by the abbreviation "S" (Suomi, Finland in Finnish) for production at the Finnish mint Suomen Rahapaja OY in Vantaa and on the right by its mint mark, a horn of plenty with roundels.
 
🔎		 Austria 11 May 2005 50th anniversary of the Austrian State Treaty 20001
20002
20005 		7,000,000  
 

 
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Description : The purpose of the Austrian State Treaty was to restore the sovereign and democratic Republic of Austria after the National Socialist rule in Austria (1938‐1945) and the subsequent period of occupation (1945‐1955). The motif on the coin features the seals and signatures of the Foreign Ministers of the victorious Allied Powers, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov for the Soviet Union, John Foster Dulles for the United States, Harold Macmillan for the United Kingdom and Antoine Pinay for France, together with those of the High Commissioners of the four occupation zones Ivan I. Ilyichev, Llewellyn E. Thompson, Geoffrey Wallinger, Roger Lalouette and the Austrian Foreign Minister, Leopold Figl. The coin celebrates the "50 JAHRE STAATSVERTRAG" (50th anniversary of the State Treaty) this inscription can be seen above the seals and signatures, the year of issue "2005" is below. In the background can be seen the red‐white‐red flag of Austria, vertically hatched according to the heraldic rules of tincture, which symbolises the colour red. The coin was designed by Helmut Andexlinger. The coin was minted without a mint mark by the Austrian Mint Münze Österreich AG in Vienna. The coin does not bear the name of the issuing state.
 
🔎		 Belgium 20 May 2005 Belgium‐Luxembourg Economic Union 20001
20002
20005 		6,023,000  
 

 
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Description : At the session of the United Nations General Assembly held at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris on the 10th of December 1948, Resolution 217 was adopted with the ‐ legally non‐binding ‐ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its Article 1 reads: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights". The coin designed by Luc Luycx is dedicated to this resolution. A rectangle surrounded by curved lines, resembling a stylised book, bears a circle symbolising the circle of the earth and the number "60". Below this, the occasion of issue "UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS" is written in four lines. Above it is the year "2008". Below is in a semicircle the name of the issuing country "BELGIE ‐ BELGIQUE ‐ BELGIEN" in the three national languages Dutch, French and German, flanked on the left by the helmeted head of the Archangel Michael the mint mark of the Royal Belgian mint Monnaie Royale de Belgique / Koninklijke Munt van België / Königliche Belgische Münzprägeanstalt in Brussels and on the right by a scale the logo of mint master Romain Coenen.
 
🔎		 Spain 30 Jun. 2005 4th Centenary of the first edition of Miguel de Cervantes' El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha 20001
20002
20005 		8,000,000  
 

 
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Designed by Begoña Castellanos García, the coin motif depicts Don Quixote holding a spear with two windmills in the background. This is one of his most famous episodes in the novel El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha) by Miguel de Cervantes (1547‐1616). Don Quixote is a reader addicted to his novels of chivalry who seems incapable of distinguishing between poetry and truth. He considers himself a proud knight who is supposedly destined to embark on one daring adventure after another. He mounts his rickety horse Rosinante ‐ faithful at his side the only seemingly naive shield‐bearer Sancho Panza ‐ and fights windmills, among other things. On the left of the motif, recessed is "ESPAÑA" (Spain) below it the letter "M" adorned with a crown, the mint mark of the Spanish mint Real Casa de la Moneda in Madrid. At the bottom the year "2005" is shown in two parts on either side of the 6 o'clock star. On the outside circle are 12 stars 4 of which are recessed and the others are in relief. From 2010 onwards the European Commission specified that the 12 stars should be arranged identical ‐ the same way as on the European flag.
 
🔎		 San Marino 14 Oct. 2005 World Year of Physics 2005 20001
20002
20005 		130,000  
 

 
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Description : Galileo Galilei (1564‐1642) was an Italian polymath ‐ philosopher, mathematician, engineer, physicist, astronomer and cosmologist. He developed the method of exploring nature through a combination of experiments, measurements and mathematical analyses and thus became one of the most important founders of the modern exact natural sciences. Because he advocated the Copernican view of the world, the Catholic Church conducted an inquisition trial against him in 1632 and forced him to recant. The coinage is a free interpretation of the relief La fisica antica (Ancient Physics) or The Study of the Planets, created around 1335 by Andrea Pisano for Giotto's bell tower in Florence, and shows Galileo with his telescopes, built in 1609, 90 and 130 cm long respectively, with a scroll on his knees. In the background, a stylised atom is represented by six electrons and their circular orbits, which reach between the stars of Europe. The issue occasion "ANNO MONDIALE DELLA FISICA" (International Year of Physics) is written in a semicircle at the bottom, "SAN MARINO" at the top. The year "2005" appears under a globe standing on the table. The letter "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome is shown on the left, the initials "LDS" of the designer Luciana De Simoni on the right.
 
🔎		 Finland 25 Oct. 2005 60th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations and 50th anniversary of Finland's UN membership 20001
20002
20005 		2,000,000  
 

 
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Description : On the occasion of Finland's 50th anniversary as a member of the United Nations, the coin shows puzzle pieces that, when put together, form a dove of peace carrying an olive branch in its beak. The inscription "FINLAND — UN" (state name in English and Swedish, UN as an acronym for United Nations) is shown on the bottom left and the year of issue "2005" on the right. The designer Taipo Kettunen's signet "K" appears to the right above the year, while the mintmaster's mark "M" for Raimo Taipo Makkonen is to the left. The coin was struck without a mint mark by the Finnish mint Suomen Rahapaja OY in Vantaa.
Instead of the standard Finnish edge lettering, this commemorative coin uses "YK 1945‐2005 FN" followed by three lion heads (the lion is the heraldic animal of Finland) as the edge lettering. "YK" and "FN" are the acronyms for "United Nations" in Finnish and Swedish.
 
🔎		 Italy 29 Oct. 2005 1st anniversary of the signing of the European Constitution 20001
20002
20005 		18,000,000  
 

 
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Description : The draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was drawn up by a European Convention in 2003 and signed by the heads of state and government of the EU member states in Rome on the 29th of October 2004. Compared to the previously valid Treaty of Nice, the EU was to receive additional competences; furthermore, its institutional structure was to be changed in order to make it more democratic and capable of acting. However, since not all member states ratified the treaty after failed referendums in France and the Netherlands, it did not attain legal force. Instead, in December 2007, European leaders concluded the Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force on the 1st of December 2009. Europa and Zeus in the shape of a bull are the motif of the coin, together with the Constitution for Europe depicted as a book. Europa holds a quill above the Constitution, symbolic of its signing. The ring shows the issue occasion "COSTITUZIONE EUROPEA" (European Constitution) in the lower part, while the twelve stars of Europe fill its upper half. The ligature "RI" (Repubblica Italiana, Italian Republic) is shown at the bottom of the pill, the year "2005" at the top right. The "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome is at the top left. The initials "M.C.C." of the medallist Maria Carmela Colaneri are at the bottom left.
 
🔎		 Vatican City 06 Dec. 2005 20th World Youth Day, held in Cologne in August 2005 20001
20002
20005 		100.000  
 

 
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Description : Cologne Cathedral with its two 157 m high towers is one of the largest cathedrals in Gothic style. Its construction began in 1248 and was only completed in 1880, after more than 600 years. A national symbol for Germany, the (apparently) intact cathedral was seen as an emotional symbol of the will to live in the middle of the heavily bombed city after the end of the Second World War. The coin shows the cathedral on the banks of the Rhine, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, with a comet appearing above it as a celestial symbol resembling the star of Bethhehem. The issue celebrates "XX GIORNATA MONDIALE DELLA GIOVENTÙ" (20th World Youth Day) which is found in a circular arc around the central design. At the bottom of the coin, arranged in a semicircle are the words "CITTÀ DEL VATICANO" (Vatican City), at the top is the letter "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome and below the date "2005" ‐ flanked on both sides by six European stars. The logos "LONGO" of the designer Daniela Longo and "E.L.F. INC." (INC. = Incisore / Engraver) of the engraver Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini can be found below left and right respectively.
⇓ 2006 ⇓
 
References :
20001 Images taken with authorisation by the ECB ‐ Mail dated 20.Feb.2020
© "European Central Bank"		 20002 Data mirrored from Wikipedia Page "2_euro_commemorative_coins"
with friendly support of the guardians of that page.
20003 Not Applicable   20004 Coloured version of this Commemorative Coin in circulation
EU‐legal‐technical specifications do not recongnise colour prints, but the EU is tolerate them, due to the facts that their numbers are very small and that they are sold in special packs and therefor are very unlikely to be used as currency.
20005 enlarged Images taken with authorisation by Gerd Seyffert
© "Gerd Seyffert 2021"		 20006 Not Applicable