2 Euro commemorative coins

2 Euro

C o m m e m o r a t i v e C o i n s

⇑ 2019 ⇑
2020
Image	Country		Date	Feature	Ref.	Volume
🔎		Italy	20 Jan. 2020	80th anniversary of the National Firefighters Corps	20001 20002 20005	3,000,000	•
	Description : Immediately after the unification of Italy, there were fire brigade organisations (pompieri) of varying quality at the local level. As a rule, these were volunteer fire brigades, some of which were set up at the municipal level according to the medieval model. In 1939, the national fire brigade corps was founded, in which military service could be performed from 1950 to 2005. However, the fire brigade in South Tyrol ‐ like those in Trentino and Valle d'Aosta ‐ is an independent organisation and, unlike in the rest of Italy, relies almost exclusively on volunteers. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the national fire brigade in Italy, its logo is shown, surrounded in a circle by the designation "CORPO NAZIONALE DEI VIGILI DEL FUOCO" (National Corps of Fire Guards). On the left is the country abbreviation "RI" (Repubblica Italiana, Italian Republic), on the right the year "2020" and the "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome. Below is the signet "LDS" of the coin designer Luciana De Simoni.

🔎		Estonia	27 Jan. 2020	200th anniversary of the discovery of the Antarctic	20001 20002 20005	750,000	•
	Description : Fabian Gottlieb von Bellinghausen (1778‐1852), scion of the German‐Baltic noble family Bellinghausen, served in the Imperial Russian Navy. In 1819 he was commissioned to lead the first Russian expedition to the Southern Polar region, instigated by Tsar Alexander I. During the two‐year expedition, which he led as captain of the corvette Vostok, 29 new islands in the Pacific and Atlantic were discovered. Bellinghausen first sighted the ice shelf surrounding Antartic on the 28th of January 1820 he then circumnavigated and catalogued the "iced continent" for which he gained the reputation of being the discoverer of Antarctic. A marginal sea off western Antarctica is called Bellingshausen Sea in his honour. The coin designers Tiiu Pirsko and Mati Veermets depict the edge of the Antarctic ice shelf to the right of the bow of the three‐masted sailing ship flying the Russian naval flag. Towards the top left in a semi circle are the words "Fabian Gottlieb von Bellinghausen", at the bottom the reason for the issue "ANTARKTIKA" "200", on the top right are the words "EESTI" (Estonia) and the year of issue "2020". The coin was minted without mint marks by the Lithuanian mint Lietuvos monetų kalykla in Vilnius.

🔎		Germany	28 Jan. 2020	Brandenburg (Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam) 15th coin in the Federal States series	20002 20007 20008	30,567,500	•
	Description : Sanssouci Palace (from French sans souci 'without worry') is one of the most famous Hohenzollern palaces in Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg. According to his own sketches, the Prussian King Friedrich II had a small summer palace built in the rococo style by the architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff between 1745 and 1747. In 1990 the palaces and parks of Potsdam and Berlin were declared a World Heritage Site. The southern side of the palace is depicted on the coin with the terraced vineyard in the foreground. Frederick the Great's wish to be buried on the upper vineyard terrace was only fulfilled in 1991. Two of the statues of the fountain roundel placed at the foot of the vineyard ‐ the originals are now in the Bode‐Museum in Berlin ‐ remind us of love and death: Venus (left) and Mercury (right); they were created by Jean‐Baptiste Pigalle in 1748 and were a gift from the French King Louis XV. At the top of the motif is the year of issue "2020", to the left of it the German mint mark (A = Staatliche Münze Berlin in Berlin, D = Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt in Munich, F = Staatliche Münzen Baden‐Württemberg in Stuttgart, G = Staatliche Münzen Baden‐Württemberg in Karlsruhe or J = Landesbetrieb Hamburgische Münze in Hamburg), on the right of it the initials "JT" of the coin designer Jordi Truxa. At the bottom of the motif is the federal state name "BRANDENBURG" and the country abbreviation "D" (for Deutschland / Germany).

🔎		France	31 Jan. 2020	Charles de Gaulle	20001 20002 20005	18,061,940	•
	Description : Charles de Gaulle is depicted twice on the coin: in the background as a general who led the resistance of Free French against the German occupation during the Second World War. Due to his appeal and to commemorate the famous broadcast made on BBC radio on the 18th of June 1940, the number of coins minted was ‐ 18,061,940. In the foreground, de Gaulle is depicted at an advanced age as President of France (1959‐1969). On the left, the emblem of the Forces françaises libres (Forces for a Free France) chosen by de Gaulle, a patriarchal cross known as the Cross of Lorraine, forms the background for the "F" of the country's abbreviation "RF" (République française, French Republic) togetherwith de Gaulle's lifespan, "1890" to "1970", as well as the year of issue, "2020". To the bottom right is inscribed "Charles de Gaulle", at the bottom (from left to right) is a square the logo of the coin designer Joaquin Jimenez, a cornucopia the mint mark of the French mint Monnaie de Paris in Plessac and a pentagon the logo of mint master Yves Sampo.

🔎		Spain	31 Jan. 2020	Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon 11th coin in the UNESCO Wourld Heritage Sites series	20001 20002 20005	4,024,500	•
	Description : The Mudéjares (Arabic: mudağğan, subservient) were Muslims who became ruled by the Christian kingdoms in Spain during the Reconquista (Reconquest). Although socially discriminated against, the many artisans among them shaped a regional architectural technique with materials such as bricks as well as building forms and decorations from Islamic architecture such as horseshoe arches, stalactite vaults, ornaments and majolica decoration, this was combined with the style repertoire of the Romantic, Gothic or Rainaissance periods. The Mudejar style reached its heyday between the 14th and 16th century. The coin motif depicts the El Salvador bell tower of the church of San Martin in Teruel, built around 1320, which, along with other Mudejar buildings, was awarded World Heritage Site status in 1986. At the top of the motif in a semi‐circle are the words "ARQUITECTURA MUDÉJAR DE ARAGÓN" (Mudejar architecture of Aragon), to the left of the tower "ESPAÑA" (Spain) and on the right is the letter "M" adorned with a crown, the mint mark of the Spanish mint Real Casa de la Moneda in Madrid as well as the year of issue "2020".

🔎		Estonia	01 Feb. 2020	100th anniversary of the Treaty of Tartu	20001 20002 20005	1,000,000	•
	Description : The coin, designed by Ivar Sakk, depicts a stylised tree with leaves, within which are woven letters which spell out the reason for the issue "TARTU RAHU" (Peace of Tartu), as being a symbol of the young state of Estonia. In 1918 Soviet Russia cancelled the Peace of Brest‐Litovsk and the Red Army started a military offensive to conquer the Baltic States. Estonia subsequently fought for state independence in the Estonian War of Independence. In the Tartu Peace Treaty of 1920, Soviet Russia renounced all rights it ever had over Estonia and legally recognised Estonia as an independent sovereign state and as well as the border between the two states. At the bottom left of the coin "EESTI" denotes the issuing country Estonia and to the right "02.02.2020" the date of the 100th anniversary. The coin was minted without mint marks by the Lithuanian mint Lietuvos monetų kalykla in Vilnius.

🔎		Luxembourg	26 Feb. 2020	Bicentenay of the birth of Prince Henry of Orange-Nassau 23rd coin of the Grand-Ducal Dynasty series	20001 20002 20005	316,000	•
	Beschreibung : Henry of Orange‐Nassau (1820‐1879) was appointed Governor of Luxembourg in 1850 by his brother William III, who was Grand Duke of Luxembourg and at the same time King of the Netherlands and Duke of Limburg in personal union. He held this office until his death. To the left of the present Grand Duke Henri, the coin designer Herbert Wähner has depicted Prince Henry (whose mother Anna Pavlovna was Grand Duchess of Russia) in the style of a painting from 1870 now in the Alexander Palace in Pushkin near St. Petersburg, but reversed to the original. On the left, in a semicircle, is "Prince Henri d'Orange‐Nassau" (Prince Henry of Orange‐Nassau). Below his portrait are the dates of life "1820" and "1879", below "LUXEMBOURG" (Luxembourg in French) and the year of issue "2020", flanked by two mint marks. These exist in three different combinations: On coins in rolls, the national mint mark, the Luxembourg lion with double tail, is depicted on the left and a staff of Hermes the mint mark of the Dutch mint Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt in Utrecht is shown on the right. Coincards also show the staff of Hermes on the right, but the Servaasbrug (Sint‐Servaas Bridge in Maastricht) the logo of mint master Stephan Satijn on the left. This is also shown on the left side of coins produced in the Proof manufactoring process, but with the Luxembourg lion with double tail on the right side.

🔎		Belgium	05 Mar. 2020	International year of plant health	20002 20007 20008	755,000	•
	Description : Under the semi‐circular name of the issue occasion "INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF PLANT HEALTH", the official logo of the IYPH 2020 is depicted with the year "2020". Five healthy leaves form a globe, symbolising that they are the source of oxygen, food and all life on earth. Leaves protected from disease and devastating pests are central to protecting the environment and promoting economic development and fighting hunger and poverty. The coin, designed by Luc Luycx, shows the country abbreviation "BE" (Belgium) at the bottom, on the left the coat of arms of the municipality of Herzele the logo of the mint master Ingrid Van Herzele and on the right the staff of Hermes the mint mark of the Royal Dutch mint Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt in Utrecht.

🔎		San Marino	05 Mar. 2020	500 years since the death of Raphael	20002 20003 20005	56,500	•
	Description : Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1483‐1520) was a painter of the Italian High Renaissance, active in Florence and at the papal court in Rome and ‐ after the death of Donato Bramante ‐ architect in charge of the construction of St Peter's Basilica in 1514. Raphael achieved fame above all as a painter for his harmonious and balanced compositions and lovely pictures of the Madonna. The motif of the coin is a detail of the fresco of the Madonna di Casa Santi created in Urbino in 1498, one of the very first works by the then fifteen‐year‐old Raphael. At the top right are the dates "1520" and "2020" as well as "SAN MARINO", at the bottom "RAFFAELLO", next to it the initials "A.M." of the coin designer Annalisa Masini and on the left the letter "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome.

🔎		Latvia	05 Jun. 2020	Letgalian ceramics	20002 20007 20008	412,000	•
	Description : In the Latvian regions of Letgale (Latgale) and Kurzeme (Kurland), abundant clay deposits provide material for the production of pottery. Especially in the Latvian Rēzekne this traditional handicraft has survived and forms part of the Latvian cultural heritage. A glazed five‐armed ceramic candlestick is the motif of the coin designed by Gundega Rancāne. On the top it reads "2020" and LATVIJA" (Latvia), below "LATGALES KERAMIKA" (Latvian ceramics). The coin was made without mintmarks by the Lithuanian mint Lietuvos monetų kalykla in Vilnius.

🔎		Italy	09 Jun. 2020	150th birthday of Maria Montessori	20002 20003 20005	3,000,000	•
	Description : The coin commemorating the 150th birthday of the Italian doctor, reform pedagogue, philosopher and philanthropist Maria Montessori shows three of the teaching materials of Montessori education in a square, next to her portrait and the name "MARIA MONTESSORI" on the left and below respectively. She developed the principle of "Cosmic Education" and the "Earth Child Plan" during her time in India (1939‐1949). She died in 1952 in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, and Amsterdam is also the seat of the non‐governmental organisation AMI (Association Montssori Internationale). The coin states Maria Montessori's year of birth, "1870", at the top and the year of issue, "2020", at the bottom. On the right is the country abbreviation "RI" (Repubblica Italiana, Italian Republic), on the bottom left the "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome and on the bottom right the signet "LDS" of the coin designer Luciana De Simoni.

🔎		Vatican City	23 Jun. 2020	100th birthday of Pope John Paul II	20001 20002 20005	79,000	•
	Description : The motif depicts Pope John Paul II (1920‐2005) in front of a laurel branch and behind the parish church of Ofiarowania Najświętszj Maryi Panny in the Polish town of Wadowice together with the house where he was born, which is now a museum. A brick church built around 1450, destroyed in the town fire of 1726, was replaced in 1792‐1798 by a late Baroque basilica ‐ dedicated to the Offering of the Virgin Mary ‐ where Karol Józef Voijtyła was baptised. The eight‐pointed star emblazoned on the coin is considered the supreme allegory of Christ, a physical representation of the concept of divinity and truth, and at the same time it symbolises the Virgin Mary, to whom John Paul II dedicated his pontificate. Since an eclipse occurred on the day of his birth (a partial one, in Australia), as well as on the day of his funeral (a hybrid one, in Panama / Colombia / Venezuela), the star also represents an eclipsed sun by concentric segments of a circle. Above the star is "PAPA GIOVANNI PAOLO II" (Pope John Paul II), on the right "1920" the year of his birth and "2020" the year of issue, together with the initial "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome. At the bottom, is the country of issue "CITTÀ DEL VATICANO" (Vatican City), and above it the Logos "G. TITOTTO" of the designer Gabriella Titotto and "M.A.C. INC." (INC. = incisore / engraver) of the engraver Maria Angela Cassol.

🔎		Greece	30 Jun. 2020	25th Centenary of the Battle of Thermopylae	20002 20007 20008	750,000	•
	Description : In 480 BC, at the beginning of the Second Persian War, a Persian army of at least 50,000 men stood before Thermopylae under King Xerxes I. This narrow section of the only road along the coast to inner Greece ‐ according to Herodotus only wide enough for a wagon ‐ blocked a Greek army of almost 7000 men. At first they inflicted heavy losses on the Persians, but Ephialtes of Trachis is said to have led Persians on a footpath over the mountains into the Greek back. The subsequent retreat of a large part of the Greek army was still covered by 700 Thespians and 300 Spartans under Leonidas I, until their death. The local monument dedicated to "Ω ξειν, αγγελλειν Λακεδαιμονιοις ωτι τηδε κειμεθα τοις κεινων ρημασι πειθομενοι." (Latin: Dic hospes Spartae nos te hic vidisse iacentes, dum sanctis patriae legibus obsequimur. / German according to Friedrich Schiller: walker, if you come to Sparta, announce there, you have seen us lying here, as the law ordered). The coin depicts the helmet of a Hoplite with a horsehair comb, surrounded in a circle by a meandering ornament and the text "2500 ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΗ ΜΑΧΗ ΤΩΝ ΘΕΡΜΟΠΥΛΩΝ" (2500 years since the Battle of Thermopylae) and "ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ" (Hellenic Republic). On the left is a palmette the mint mark of the Greek mint Νομισματοκοπειο / Nomismatokopeio (Bank of Greece ‐ Mint) in Halandri and the year of issue "2020", on the right below the signet "ΣΤΑΜ" of the coin designer Georgios Stamatopoulos.

🔎		Greece	16 Jul. 2020	100th anniversary of the union between Thrace and Greece	20002 20007 20008	750,000	•
	Description : The region of Thrace, which was unified with Greece in 1920 under the Treaty of Sèvres, accounts for 12% of only the western part of the historical landscape of Thrace, which was settled by Thracians around the 4th century BC ‐ the European part of Turkey, Eastern Thrace, accounts for 31%, Northern Thrace in Bulgaria for 57%. The current border between Turkey and Greece has its origins in the Treaty of Lausanne signed in 1923. The coin, designed by Georgios Stamatopoulos, shows a stater (tetrobel), from around the 4th century BC, from the ancient city of Abdera, home of the philosophers Democritus and Protagoras. It depicts a griffin, under the inscription "ΑΒΔΗΡΑ" (Abdera). At the top is written in a semicircle "100 ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΕΝΣΩΜΑΤΩΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΘΡΑΚΗΣ" (100 years since the integration of Thrace), below "ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ" (Hellenic Republic). On the left is a palmette the mint mark of the Greek mint Νομισματοκοπειο / Nomismatokopeio (Bank of Greece ‐ Mint) in Halandri, and (under the griffin) the signet "ΣΤΑΜ" of the coin designer and on the right the year of issue "2020".

🔎		Malta	24 Jul. 2020	Skorba Temples 5th coin of the Maltese Prehistoric Sites series	20002 20007 20009	200,000	•
	Description : The coin, designed by Noel Galea Bason, shows the south‐eastern interior view of the Neolithic western temple of Skorba ‐ built around 3600‐3000 BC ‐ and the female terracotta sculpture created around 4400‐4100 BC, which resembles Cycladic idols and was found during the excavations there in a deeper settlement layer. The temple complex at Mġarr, together with the temples of Ta' Ħaġrat, only 1 km away, and four other places of worship, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 as part of the megalithic temples of Malta. The inscription on the coin reads "SKORBA TEMPLES 3600‐2500 BC" and "Malta 2020". The signet "NGB" of the designer is on the right. The coin was minted without a mint mark by the French mint Monnaie de Paris in Plessac; on Coincard specimens, the year is flanked on the left by a cornucopia as their mint mark, while on the right a pentagon represents the mint master's mark Yves Sampos. Specimens in circulation coin sets bear an "F" (for France) in the 6 o'clock star.

🔎		Finland	18 Aug. 2020	100 years since the foundation of the University of Turku	20002 20007 20008	720,000	•
	Description : Founded in 1920, the university in the Finnish city of Turku is the second largest in the country. In addition, there is the Swedish‐language university Åbo Akademi, founded in 1918, with just under 6,000 students. The Turku Academy, on the other hand, which was located in Turku from 1640 to 1828, is the predecessor of the University of Helsinki and is not connected to today's two Turku universities. The coin designed by Petri Neuvonen represents the concept of neurological network through grid patterns on an abstract level. This is meant to symbolise the interaction between the universities and society. On the top is "2020", on the right is a lion (the heraldic animal of Finland) the mint mark of the Finnish mint Suomen Rahapaja OY in Vantaa, and the country code "FI" (Finland).

🔎		San Marino	27 Aug. 2020	250 years since the death of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo	20002 20003 20005	56,500	•
	Description : Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696‐1770) was one of the most important Venetian painters of the late Baroque and Rococo periods, who particularly emphasised light and perspective. His work includes depictions of heroic epics, histories, opera scenes, festivals of the gods and also altars, where he enriched many of these paintings with putti and cupids. The coin designed by Claudia Momoni shows the moment when the angel sent by God saves Hagar and Ishmael, who are lost in the desert, by pointing them to a spring. The detail comes from the 1732 painting Hagar and Ishmael, one of Tiepolo's outstanding masterpieces, which is kept in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, an important Venetian fraternity. It represents the counterpart of Tiepolo's Abraham and the Angels. On the lower right is "SAN MARINO", above "TIEPOLO". On the right, the dates "1770" and "2020" indicate his year of death and the year of issue. The letter "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome is shown above, the initials "C.M." of the designer on the left.

🔎		Portugal	01 Sep. 2020	730 years since the foundation of the University of Coimbra	20001 20002 20005	360,000	•
	Description : On the 1st of March 1290, the Portuguese King Dionysius of the House of Burgundy signed the founding treaty called "Scientiae thesaurus mirabilis" (admirable treasure of knowledge) of the university, which was to include the faculties of art, theology, canon law, civil law and medicine. This was confirmed by the papal bull "De statu regni Portugaliae" (The State of Portugal) on the 9th of August 1290 by Pope Nicholas IV. In the same year, construction of the university began ‐ making it the oldest educational institution in Portugal and one of the oldest and most prestigious in the world. However, it was initially built in Lisbon ‐ but temporarily moved to Coimbra twice until 1377 ‐ and only finally moved to Coimbra in 1537 on the orders of King João III. In 2013, it was elevated to the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university, where today 1,500 lecturers teach 22,000 students, forms the network of the Coimbra Group with 38 other traditional, European, multidisciplinary universities of high international stature in Europe. The large clock tower of the historic university buildings depicted on the coin dates from the 18th century and is considered an example of the late Baroque style from the time of Joãos V. It is located at the highest point of the city and thus became Coimbra's landmark. The issue occasion "UNIVERSIDADE DE COIMBRA 730 ANOS" (University of Coimbra 730 years) is shown in four lines, with the "DE" written in ligature. Below is "PORTUGAL 2020", on the right the signet "Esc. J. J. BRITO" of the sculptor (Portuguese Escultor = Esc.) and coin designer José João Brito, next to it the mint mark "CASA DA MOEDA" of the Portuguese mint Imprensa Nacional‐ Casa da Moeda S.A. in Lisbon.

🔎		Lithuania	16 Sep. 2020	Aukštaitija (Northeast Lithuania) 2nd coin in the series of Lithuanian Ethnographical Regions	20002 20003 20005	500,000	•
	Description : The coin is dedicated to Upper Lithuania, the region was shaped by the Baltic Aukstaitic tribe and had its cultural centre in Panevėžys, where East Aukstaitic is spoken, a dialect of Lithuanian. The coin shows the coat of arms designed by the coin designer Rolandas Rimkūnas which was declared the coat of arms of Aukštaitijas in 2006 by the Council for the Protection of Ethnic Culture (established by the Lithuanian Parliament, the Seimas). It depicts a knight in armour called Vytis ("the persecutor"), who carries a sword with his right hand. The coat of arms is held by two angels praising and protecting Aukštaitija ‐ one of the most important regions of Lithuania and the cradle of its statehood ‐ below is the Latin motto "PATRIAM TUAM MUNDUM EXISTIMA" (Consider your homeland as the whole world). At the top of the coin is "LIETUVA" (Lithuania) and imeadiately below it the year of issue "2020". At the bottom of the coin is "AUKŠTAITIJA" (Upper Lithuania) and above that is the circular mint mark "LMK" of the Lithuanian mint Lietuvos monetų kalykla in Vilnius.

🔎		Portugal	07 Oct. 2020	75th anniversary of the United Nations	20001 20002 20005	510,000	•
	Description : The United Nations Charter was finalised at the Yalta Conference and signed by 50 states at the San Francisco Conference on the 26th of June 1945. New York became the seat of the organisation. As a symbol of the United Nations flag, the coin shows the globe with the entire land mass inhabited by humans, framed by two olive branches, the classic symbol of peace. In the centre is the geographic North Pole and around it the continents of the northern hemisphere; the southern hemisphere ‐ without Antarctica ‐ is distorted by the projection resembling a mid‐distance azimuthal projection and is shown too large in area. The year of issue "2020" and "PORTUGAL" are written in irregular, handwriting‐like characters at the top, and the occasion of issue "UN / ONU 75 YEARS / ANOS" (United Nations 75 Years) is written bilingually in English and Portuguese below. On the left is the mint mark "CASA DA MOEDA" of the Portuguese mint Imprensa Nacional‐ Casa da Moeda S.A. in Lisbon in two lines and on the right ‐ also in two lines ‐ the name of the coin designer "ANDRÉ LETRIA".

🔎		Germany	08 Oct. 2020	50th anniversary of the Warsaw kneeling	20002 20007 20008	30,350,000	•
	Description : The uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto of captured Jews against their deportation to extermination camps began on the 19th of April 1943. The insurgents, who were completely inadequately armed, fought bitter battles for four weeks in the ghetto with the German occupying forces, which claimed a total of 12,000 victims. A further 30,000 people were shot after the fighting had finished and 7,000 were transported to death camps. Chancellor Willy Brandt laid a wreath at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial on the 7th of December 1970, immediately before the signing of the Warsaw Treaty. He then sank to his knees. This gesture of humility, the plea for forgiveness for the German crimes committed in the Second World War, made history as Warsaw's kneeling. Bodo Broschat depicts this scene on the coin. On the left is a seven‐armed candlestick flanked by two lions, a symbol of Judaism. In a circle in two segments are the words "50 JAHRE KNIEFALL" / "VON WARSCHAU" (50th anniversary of the Warsaw kneeling). The year of issue "2020" is centre left, below it the German mint mark (A = Staatliche Münze Berlin in Berlin, D = Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt in Munich, F = Staatliche Münzen Baden‐Württemberg in Stuttgart, G = Staatliche Münzen Baden‐Württemberg in Karlsruhe or J = Landesbetrieb Hamburgische Münze in Hamburg), on the right the country abbreviation "D" (for Deutschland / Germany) and above it the designer's logo.

🔎		Belgium	15 Oct. 2020	Jan van Eyck	20002 20007 20008	155,000	•
	Description : Jan van Eyck (∼1390‐1441) was a Flemish painter of the late Middle Ages and is regarded as the founder and most famous representative of Old Netherlandish painting. With his perfect painting technique and his sense of realistic representation, he introduced the new naturalistic artistic epoch north of the Alps. His most famous work, the Ghent Altarpiece, returned to St. Bavo's Cathedral in 2020 after several years of restoration. To mark the occasion, the city of Ghent is celebrating a "Van Eyck Year". The coin, designed by Luc Luycx, shows the portrait Man with a Red Turban, created in 1433 and part of the inventory of the National Gallery in London, which is considered a self‐portrait of the painter. Under the issue occasion "J. van Eyck", his signature "Johannes de Eyck" is depicted on the left; the year of issue "2020" and the country abbreviation "BE" (Belgium) appear on the right; the staff of Hermes the mint mark of the Royal Dutch mint Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt in Houten appears below and the coat of arms of the municipality of Herzele the logo of the mint master Ingrid Van Herzele. On the painter's palette shown on the lower left, the initials "LL" of the designer can be seen next to two brushes and heaps of paint.

🔎		Vatican City	16 Oct. 2020	500th anniversary of the death of Raffael	20001 20002 20005	79,500	•
	Description : Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1483‐1520) was a painter of the Italian High Renaissance, active in Florence and at the papal court in Rome and after the death of Donato Bramante in 1514, as architect construction manager of St. Peter's Basilica. Raphael became famous mainly as a painter for his harmonious and well‐balanced compositions and lovely Madonna pictures. The coin motif shows a self‐portrait painted in 1511, a detail of the fresco The School of Athens in the Stanza Della Segnatura (Room of the Signatura) which is situated in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican City. On the right of the motif the coin designer, Daniela Longo has depicted the two angels from the painting Sistine Madonna (today in the galery Alte Meister in Dresden) painted in 1513 ⁄ 1514. To the upper right are the words "RAFFAELLO SANZIO", below it the year of his death, "1520" and the year of issue "2020". The issuing country "Città del VATICANO" (Vatican City) is below the angels together with the initial "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome. At the bottom of the motif are the designer's logo "D.LONGO" and the initials "SP INC." (INC. = Incisore / engraver) of the engraver Silvia Petrassi.

🔎		Monaco	20 Oct. 2020	300th anniversary of the birth of Honoré III	20002 20003 20005	15,000	•
	Description : Honoré III (1720‐1795), son of Princess Louise‐Hippolyte, became prince of Monaco in 1732 at the age of 11. But he left the regency to his uncle Antoine Grimaldi. Only after his death he returned from Paris to Monaco 1784. Due to the French Revolution of 1789 the Grimaldis lost their privileges of nobility and their possessions in France. With the deposition of Louis XVI France became a republic in 1792 and annexed Monaco in 1793. Honoré III was arrested and died in a dungeon in Paris in 1795. The coin shows him according to a painting by Jean‐Baptiste van Loo (1684‐1745), which is presented in the throne room of the princely palace in Monaco. On the left is "HONORÉ III", on the right "MONACO", below "1720 ♦ Naissance ♦ 2020" (1720 ♦ birth ♦ 2020). A cornucopia as mint mark of the French mint Monnaie de Paris in Pessac is shown on the left, a pentagon as the mint master's mark Yves Sampos on the right.

🔎		France	27 Oct. 2020	Medical Research	20002 20003 20005	310,000	•
	Description : The COVID‐19 pandemic focused public interest on medical research. Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Charpentier was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry ‐ coincidentally the day after the coin was presented ‐ for developing the "gene editing" CHRISPR. The coin design by Joaquin Jimenez, depicts the profile of a woman surrounded by a stylised globe while looking at the microcosm, the DNA double helix evokes associations with the prize. To the upper left is the word "UNION" (community), this is linked with the letters of the words DÉVOUEMENT, ENGAGEMENT, BIENVAILLANCE, PROTECTION, GÉNÉROSITÉ (selflessness, commitment, benevolence, protection and generosity) on one of the coin cards. This is to honour the work of researchers, doctors and carers during the pandemic. At the top is the country abbreviation "RF" (République française, French Republic), towards the bottom left is the year of issue "2020". Below it is a cornucopia the mint mark of the French mint Monnaie de Paris in Plessac as well as the square logo of the coin designer and a pentagon, the logo of mint master Yves Sampo.

🔎		Lithuania	04 Nov. 2020	Hill of crosses	20002 20003 20005	500,000	•
	Description : The history of the hill is deeply rooted in pre‐Christian times. Until the 14th century the castle of Jurgaičiai stood here. The Lithuanians, at that time the last pagan people of Europe, defended themselves against the bloody Eastern Crusades of the Teutonic Order and its Livonian sword brothers ‐ in the end in vain. The castle is said to have been destroyed in 1348, but the hill survived as a mythical sanctuary. When the Lithuanians rose up against tsarist foreign rule in the 19th century and the uprisings were bloodily crushed, inhabitants of surrounding villages erected memorial crosses on the hill for their dead relatives. The crosses were removed several times after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940, most recently in 1975, but Mikhail Gorbachev had the hill added to the list of Lithuanian national monuments during the Perestroika period. In 2008, the Lithuanian cross carving (Lithuanian: Kryždirbystė) was declared an intangible world cultural heritage site by UNESCO. The coin designed by Rytas Jonas Belevičius shows a variety of different crosses, covered columns (Lithuanian: Stogastulpis) and on the left a sculpture of Casimir, the patron saint of Lithuania. On the lower right, the knight Vytis ("the pursuer") is depicted in accordance with the coat of arms of Lithuania. The steps of the stairs are overlaid by a crescent moon cross. The crescent moon, an ancient pagan symbol, was associated with the female cycle of the month. In the Christian context, the whiteness of the moon represents innocence and symbolises in particular the Virgin Mary ‐ in Vilnius, the icon of Mary, which is considered an image of grace, has been adorned in the Gate of Dawn since 1849 with a silver crescent moon, a votive gift. At the top of the coin is the year of issue "2020" and "LIETUVA" (Lithuania) and at the bottom of the coin in two lines are the words "KRYŽIŲ KALNAS" (Hill of Crosses); to the right is the circular mint mark "LMK" of the Lithuanian mint Lietuvos monetų kalykla in Vilnius.

🔎		Slovakia	11 Nov. 2020	20th anniversary of Slovakia’s accession to the OECD	20001 20002 20005	1,000,000	•
	Description : The coin design by Peter Valach, is intended to symbolise the concept of digitised humanism: printed conductors on a computer board in the shape of a human brain, with a circular microprocessor at its centre, represent the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is both technically and humanly. Below a square with the inscription "20 VÝROČIE VSTUP SR DO OECD" (20th anniversary of Slovakia's accession to the OECD), there is a two‐line text "SLOVENSKO 2020" (Slovenia 2020). On the right is the coat of arms of Slovakia with the Byzantine double cross on a trimount. On the left is the mint mark of the Slovak mint Mincovňa Kremnica š.p. in Kremnica, an "MK" between two embossing stamps, and below it the designer's abbreviated initials "PV".

🔎		Finland	11 Nov. 2020	100th anniversary of Väinö Linna	20002 20007 20008	700,000	•
	Description : Väinö Linna (1920‐1992) was one of the best‐known Finnish authors of the 20th century. After being drafted as a soldier in the Continuation War 1941‐1944, he worked as an assembler in a textile factory and began to write. His best‐known work, Crosses in Karelia, is classified as social realism. It destroyed the myth of the noble war by its harshness, depicted dilemmas and wrong decisions of the military leadership, and mostly had ordinary Finnish soldiers use coarse language. Thus the work, published in 1954, was censored and only appeared posthumously in 2000, unabridged under the title Sotaromaani (War Novel). Petri Neuvonen designed the coin that reflects Linna's time as a textile worker in the background of the portrait: threads of yarn on the left and woven fabric on the right ‐ just as individual thoughts can be woven into a complete work. On the left is the arched inscription "VÄINÖ LINNA". Below the year "2020" is a lion (the heraldic animal of Finland) the mint mark of the Finnish mint Suomen Rahapaja OY in Vantaa and the country abbreviation "FI" (Finland).

🔎		Andorra	09 Dec. 2020	The 27th Ibero‐American Summit in Andorra	20001 20002 20005	73,500	•
	Description : In 2005 Andorra signed the Constitutional Treaty of the Ibero‐American General Secretariat, which is based in the Spanish capital Madrid. The official and working languages are Spanish and Portuguese. The aim of this association is to promote cooperation, coordination and solidarity between the Member States. The biennial Ibero‐American Summit met in Soldeu, Andorra, in 2020 to discuss "Innovation for sustainable development ‐ goals for 2030". The coin, designed by the Italian designer Orietta Rossi, depicts a stylised tree made up of human silhouettes and cogwheels. The silhouettes symbolise the integration of society, culture and education for a sustainable future, while the cogwheels symbolise the energy of movement among the ideas and proposals of the summit participants. The logo of the event, shown in the bottom right‐hand corner, shows in the upper right‐hand quadrant three segments illustrating the colours of the Andorran flag, while in the bottom left‐hand corner six segments are intended to represent Andorra's openness to the objectives of sustainable development. In a semicircle on the upper left is "XXVII CIMERA IBEROAMERICANA" (27th Summit of Latin America). On the left is the name of the issuing country "ANDORRA" and below it the year "2020". Andorran coins are minted alternately in the countries of the Princes of Andorra; in 2020 this was the turn of the Royal Mint Real Casa de la Moneda in Madrid.

🔎		Andorra	09 Dec. 2020	50th anniversary of Universal Female Suffrage	20001 20002 20005	60,000	•
	Description : Andorran men over the age of 27 have had the right to vote since 1933. On the 18th of May 1967 a group of Andorran women demanded the right to present a petition to the General Council, spurred on by the beginning of feminist movements in other European countries, that Parliament grant them the right to vote and the right to be elected. The group received a total of 378 signatures from women over 25 years of age, who had the right to sign. The General Council did not react to the initiative until the 4th of July 1969, when the right for women to vote was recognised , but not their eligibility to vote. On the 14th of April 1970 it was decreed that 'all women who had full Andorran citizenship would have the right to vote on equal terms with men'. Women voted for the first time on the 14th of December 1971 and on the 24th of May 1973 the General Council recognised the right of Andorran women to stand for election. The coin depicts the face of a woman, framed by curved lines symbolising consecutive Catalan female first names. This is intended to symbolise solidarity for women in the fight for their rights. The coin was designed by the artist Judit Gaset Flinch from La Seu d'Urgell, at the top of the coin is a semicircular inscription "50 ANYS DEL SUFRAGI UNIVERSAL FEMENÍ" (50 years of universal women's suffrage) and bottom right "ANDORRA 1970‐2020". Andorran coins are minted alternately in the countries of the princes of Andorra; in 2020 this was the turn of the Royal Mint Real Casa de la Moneda in Madrid.

🔎		Andorra	14 Dec. 2020	Children's Games 5th coin of the from children in solidarity series	20002 20007 20008	220,000	•
	Description : The coin design of the student Ymen Riahi emerged victorious from design competitions of the "From Children with Solidarity" campaign at secondary schools in Malta ‐ the proceeds of the minting will be donated to a relief organisation. The coin design shows a compilation of popular traditional games and toys used by Maltese children, such as marbles, spinning tops, balls and kites, as they are traditionally made and flown. Three bees flying in a circle allude to a popular Maltese children's song. The Maltese jumping game "Il-Passju" is also presented: a chalk grid is drawn on the street with numbers from 1 to 9 representing the nine months of pregnancy. Each of the two children playing has to throw a stone onto each numbered square, starting with number one. If the stone lands on the correct number, the player must hop onto the corresponding square. If they succeed, they move on to the next number. If the stone does not land on the correct square, it is the other player's turn. The winner is the first player to reach number 9. At the top the name of the issuing country "Malta" is shown and at the bottom the year of issue "2020". The coin was produced without a mint mark by the French mint Monnaie de Paris in Plessac; on Coincard specimens the year is flanked on the right by a cornucopia as their mint mark.

🔎		Cyprus	14 Dec. 2020	30 year anniversary of the Institute for neurology and genetics	20002 20003 20005	412,000	•
	Description : The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING), founded 30 years ago, is internationally recognised in the field of neurogenetics and plays an essential role as a national and international centre of excellence for innovative research (including on multiple sclerosis) and postgraduate education. The coin motif designed by Georgios Stamatopoulos shows two overlapping star‐shaped nerve cells with perikaryon (cell nucleus) and "receiving antennas", the dendrites. Around the outside of the motif is engraved "ΙΝΣΤΙΟΥΤΟ ΝΕΥΡΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ & ΓΕΝΕΤΙΚΗΣ ΚΥΠΡΟΥ 1990‐2020" (Cypriot Institute of Neurology and Genetics 1990‐2020) and at the bottom "ΚΥΠΡΟΣ ‐ KIBRIS" (Cyprus, in Greek and Turkish). The coin was minted without a mint mark by the Greek mint Νομισματοκοπειο / Nomismatokopeio (Bank of Greece ‐ Mint) in Halandri.

🔎		Slovenia	23 Dec. 2020	500th anniversary of the birth of Adam Bohorič	20002 20007 20008	1,000,000	•
	Description : Adam Bohorič (∼1520‐1598) from Reichenburg in Lower Styria (today Brestanica in Slovenia) studied at the Artistic Faculty of the Leucorea in Luther's city of Wittenberg as a student of Philipp Melanchthon. Active as a schoolmaster, author and philologist, he published the first Slovenian grammar in Latin in 1584, with the title Arcticae horulae succisivae (Free Winter Hours; Slovenian title: Proste zimske urice). The Bible verse it contains from Paul of Tarsus' Letter to the Romans, "Omnis lingua confitebitur Deo." (Rom 14,11; according to the Luther Bible: Let all tongues confess God) forms the motif of the commemorative coin, together with the Slovenian translation overlaying it, "Vſaki jesik bode Boga ſposnal." in the alphabet named after the author, Bohoričica, common in Slovene literature until the 19th century, with round ("s") and long s ("ſ"). On the left and above is written "ADAM BOHORIČ 1520 \| SLOVENIJA 2020" (Slovenia 2020). The coin was designed by Lana Semečnik and produced without a mint mark by the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome.

🔎 🔎		Luxembourg	24 Dec. 2020	Birth of Prince Charles of Luxembourg 24th coin of the Grand-Ducal Dynasty series	20001 20002 20005	331,000	•
	Beschreibung : Prince Charles Jean Philippe Joseph Marie Guillaume of Luxembourg is the first child of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie and is second in line to the Luxembourg throne after his father. Based on a design concept of the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg - BCL (Luxembourg Central Bank), the coin shows the prince after a photo in front of his parents, at the age of six weeks. The Grand Duke Henri, grandfather of the Prince, who is otherwise depicted on Luxembourg commemorative coins, is represented on the left by his monogram, an "H" under a royal crown. According to the bank, the Luxembourg Constitution did not have to be changed for this. The coin is produced in two minting variants, normal relief minting and MPI photo minting. Next to the country name "LËTZEBUERG" (Luxembourg), which is depicted on the left in vertical lettering, the title and the date of birth of the prince are written in two lines at the bottom: "S.A.R. DE PRËNZ CHARLES" (Son Altesse royale / His Royal Highness the Prince Charles) and "☆ 10.5.2020". The circulation coins bear a staff of Hermes next to the 5 o'clock star the mint mark of the Dutch mint Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt in Houten and the national mint mark, the Luxembourg lion with double tail, next to the 7 o'clock star. Coincards also show the staff of Hermes on the right, but the Servaasbrug (Sint‐Servaas Bridge in Maastricht) on the left the logo of mint master Stephan Satijn. This is also shown on the left side of coins produced in the Proof manufactoring process, but on the right side the Luxembourg lion with double tail is depicted.

⇓ 2021 ⇓

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	Images taken with authorisation by H....... Hamburg	20004	Coloured version of this Commemorative Coin in circulation EU‐legal‐technical specifications do not recongnise colour prints. The EU nevertheless tolerates them, as their numbers are very small and 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
20007	Images taken by Münzen Kreuzberg © "Münzen Kreuzberg 2021"	20008	enlarged Images taken by Münzen Kreuzberg © "Münzen Kreuzberg 2021"