2 Euro commemorative coins

2 Euro

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

⇑ 2021 ⇑
2022
Image	Country		Date	Feature	Ref.	Volume
🔎		Germany	25 Jan. 2022	Thuringia (Wartburg Castle) 17th coin in the Federal States series	20003 20005	30,424,900	•
	Work in progress

🔎		France	25 Jan. 2022	90th birthday of former President Jacques Chirac	20003 20005	9,020,000	•
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🔎		Finland	11 Feb. 2022	100th anniversary of the Finnish National Ballet	20003 20005	400,000	•
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🔎		Slovenia	02 Mar. 2022	150th birthday of the architect Jože Plečnik	20003 20005	1,000,000	•
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🔎		Estonia	09 Mar. 2022	150th anniversary of the Society of Estonian Literati	20003 20005	1,000,000	•
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🔎		Spain	23 Mar. 2022	Garajonay National Park 13th coin in the UNESCO Wourld Heritage Sites series	20003 20005	1,019,300	•
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🔎		Spain	23 Mar. 2022	500th anniversary of the completion of the first circumnavigation	20003 20005	1,019,000	•
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🔎		Portugal	30 Mar. 2022	100th anniversary of the first crossing of the South Atlantic by plane	20003 20005	1,015,000	•
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🔎		Italy	06 Apr. 2022	170th anniversary of the foundation of the Polizia di Stato	20003 20005	3,000,000	•
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🔎		Latvia	12 Apr. 2022	100 years of Bank of Latvia	20003 20005	415,000	•
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🔎		Lithuania	21 Apr. 2022	100 years of Basketball in Lithuania	20003 20005	750,000	•
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🔎		San Marino	28 Apr. 2022	530th anniversary of the death of Piero della Francesca	20003 20005	57,300	•
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🔎		Belgium	11 May 2022	Publicly funded health care	20003 20005	155,000	•
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🔎		Italy	17 May 2022	30th anniversary of the death of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino	20003 20005	3,000,000	•
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🔎		Greece	01 Jul. 2022	200th anniverasy of the first Greek Constitution	20003 20005	750,000	•
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🔎		Luxembourg	01 Jul. 2022	50th anniverasy of the legal protection of the Flag of Luxembourg 27th coin in the Grand‐Ducal Dynasty series	20003 20005	261,000	•
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🔎		Luxembourg	01 Jul. 2022	10th wedding anniversary of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie 28th coin in the Grand‐Ducal Dynasty series	20003 20005	261,000	•
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🔎		Common Issue	01 Jul. — 17 Nov. 2022	35th anniversary of the Erasmus Program	20003 20005 20009	35,503,000	•
	Description : ERASMUS is a backronym for EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students. The ERASMUS exchange programme is aimed at EU citizens who have been studying at a university for at least one year and supports a three to twelve‐month stay abroad at a university within the EU, or an internship. In addition, there are master's and doctoral programmes, programmes for young entrepreneurs, for school education, vocational training and adult education. Internships as well as professional development measures are financially supported and language courses abroad are also made possible for working people. The backronym refers to the Dutch philosopher and theologian Erasmus of Rotterdam (∼1466‐1536), described as "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists", depicted after a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger created in 1523. The French coin designer Joaquin Jimenez, whose initials "J.J." appear next to Erasmus' pen, has designed as a background a network of connecting lines between the twelve stars arranged in a circle and symbolising Europe, which is intended to represent the manifold intellectual and human exchanges between European students. By relieving some partial areas between the connecting lines, the numbers 3 and 5 emerge, referring to the 35th anniversary of the programme. In a block of three to four lines of lettering arranged in a quarter circle at the bottom right, the commemorative period is written as "1987-2022" (the last number also designating the year of issue) below the occasion of issue, followed by the name of the issuing state, if this does not consist of an abbreviation placed in the centre of the motif. In deviation from this, Luxembourg coins also feature a latent image of the monogram of Grand Duke Henri in the top left‐hand corner, as Luxembourg law does not allow a national coin to be issued without the effigy of the head of state (or at least not without his monogram).

🔎		Estonia	08 Jul. 2022	Slava Ukraini	20003 20005	2,040,000	•
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🔎		Vatican City	06 Sep. 2022	125th birthday of Pope Paul VI	20003 20005	79,250	•
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🔎		Vatican City	06 Sep. 2022	25th anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa of Culcutta	20003 20005	79,250	•
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🔎		Monaco	07 Sep. 2022	100th anniversary of the death of Prince Albert I	20003 20005	15,000	•
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🔎		France	22 Sep. 2022	The Genius and the discus throw ‐ Arc de Triomphe 2nd coin in the series on the Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024	20003 20005	260,000	•
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🔎		Finland	30 Seb. 2022	Climate research in Finland	20003 20005 20009	400,000	•
	Description : Climate change is the greatest environmental threat of our time. It makes itself felt both regionally and globally through changes in temperature, precipitation and wind patterns. Air quality research is an important part of climate research. For this issue, Terhi Tuominen and Jitan Patel chose an usnea, a root‐like bearded lichen, as the coin motif. It functions as a natural air quality measuring device. The lichens that hang from the bark of coniferous and deciduous trees are alternately humid organisms that are able to use various water sources such as rain, fog, dew and water vapour for their photosynthesis. In a steady‐state equilibrium between desiccation and rewetting, nutrient uptake and leaching as well as photosynthesis and respiration, lichens interact with the immediate environment. They do not have any active control mechanisms such as stomata for transpiration reduction and CO2 uptake or roots and guide vessels for water supply, but exchange resources passively over their entire surface. During their metabolic activity, they accumulate substances absorbed from the environment into their organic material. This applies to environmentally harmful substances such as sulphur dioxide, heavy metals or an excess of nitrogen as well as to carbon dioxide and water resources. By means of the isotope signature of lichens, insights can be gained into CO2 and water cycles, and with the help of a so‐called lichen mapping, local climate changes can be detected. On the left, in the form of an arc, is "ILMASTOTUTKIMUS" (climate research) in Finnish and on the right "KLIMATFORSKNING" in Swedish as the occasion of issue. Below is the year of issue "2022" and to the right the country abbreviation "FI" (Finland), above a lion (the heraldic animal of Finland) as the mint mark of the Finnish mint Suomen Rahapaja OY in Vantaa.

🔎		San Marino	04 Oct. 2022	200th anniversary of the death of Antonio Canova	20003 20005 20009	57,300	•
	Description : Antonio Canova (1757‐1822) was an Italian sculptor who became the most important representative of Italian Classicism. In 1770 he began a two‐year sculpture apprenticeship and then studied at the 'Accademia di belle arti di Venezia' (Venice Academy of Fine Arts). In 1775 Canova became an independent sculptor in Venice; from 1781 to 1797 he worked in Rome. His fame led to commissions from France, England, Russia, Austria and Holland. Between 1803 and 1809 he made sculptures for Napoleon and his family. Between 1796 and 1817 Canova created four versions of statues of Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth. They are now in the National Gallery in Berlin, the Hermitage in St Petersburg, Chatsworth House (Derbyshire, England) and the San Domenico Museum in Forli (Italy). The statue from Forli served as a motif for the coin designer Antonio Vecchio. The Hebe sculpture, made of marble and wearing a bronze headband like a necklace, holds a hydria, a pouring vessel, and a bronze goblet in her hands, handing nectar to the gods as cupbearer. The Hebe sculptures, which were initially heavily criticised because of Canova's decision to combine the marble with bronze details and, in the case of the first two works, to give the bare white marble a pink patina, are today among the top works of neoclassicism. On the left, "CANOVA" is written in the shape of an arch as the occasion of issue, in the centre "1822" is the year of the sculptor's death and "2022" is the year of issue. On the right, the country of issue "SAN MARINO" is indicated in the form of an arc, and to the left of it the "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome. The designer's signet "AV." is visible at the bottom left.

🔎		Slovakia	05 Oct. 2022	300th anniversary of the construction of continental Europe’s first atmospheric steam engine for draining mines	20003 20005 20009	1,000,000	•
	Description : The coin motif designed by Peter Valach is based on a vivid technical drawing by the designer of the steam engine, the English engineer Isaac Potter (1690‐1735). The mechanism of the atmospheric steam engine, which became known as the 'Potterian Fire Engine', is based on an invention by the Englishman Thomas Newcomen (1663‐1725), which was first used in a coal mine in Staffordshire, England, in 1712. In 1722 ‐ 300 years ago ‐ Isaac Potter, together with the Austrian architect Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, built the first 'fire engine' on the European continent in Königsberg near Schemnitz in the then Kingdom of Hungary, now Nová Baňa in Slovakia, which was used in gold ore mining and pumped mine water out of the mountain. The efficiency of the engine was only 0.5 %; nevertheless, the Newcomen steam engines were only displaced towards the end of the 18th century by the steam engines of the Scottish inventor James Watt (1736‐1819), which achieved an efficiency of up to 3 %. In 1887, the mines in Königsberg/Nová Baňa were closed down. Above the 7 o'clock star, the signature of the designer, "Isaac Potter", is shown vertically as a two‐line facsimile. On the right, also in two lines and vertically, the issuing country "SLOVENSKO" (Slovakia) and the dates "1722 ‐ 2022". On the left is the logo "PV" of the designer's initials and below it is the "MK" between two embossing stamps, the mint mark of the Slovak mint Mincovňa Kremnica š.p. in Kremnica.

🔎		Malta	17 Nov. 2022	Hypogeum of Ħal‐Saflieni 7th coin of the Maltese Prehistoric Sites series	20003 20005 20009	180,000	•
	Description : A hypogeum is an underground burial structure with a vault. In 1899, the underground Neolithic temple complex of Ħal‐Saflieni was accidentally discovered in the Maltese city of Paola during the construction of a cystern for new buildings. However, the sensational find was only reported to the authorities in 1902, who then immediately ordered a halt to construction. Skeletons of around 7000 people were found in the caves. During the first excavations by the archaeologist Manuel Magri, part of the excavated material ‐ containing human remains and grave goods ‐ disappeared and the excavation report was also lost with Magri's death in 1907. The physician, chemistry professor, historian and archaeologist Themistocles Zammit continued the excavations until 1911 and handed over the now carefully documented finds from the hypogeum ‐ such as the terracotta figure of the 'Sleeping Lady' (sleeping Venus) ‐ to the National Archaeological Museum in Valletta, which he directed. The hypogeum, dated to between 4000 and 2500 BC and partly decorated with ochre paintings, has a total area of around 500 square metres and was driven into the soft limestone to a depth of 10 metres. It was recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1980. The coin motif is the room called 'Holy of Holies', which shows a complete façade with threshold and orthostats, borrowed from the architecture of the above‐ground megalithic temples of Malta, but carved into the rock, with a cantilevered vault above. Below is written in two lines "ĦAL‐SAFLIENI HYPOGEUM" as the occasion of issue and below that the age "4000 ‐ 2500 BC". On the top in two lines, "MALTA 2022" is the name of the issuing country and the year of issue. The signet "NGB" of the mint designer Noel Galea Bason appears at the bottom right. The coin was produced without mint mark by the Royal Dutch mint Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt in Houten.

🔎		Malta	17 Nov. 2022	United Nations Security Council Resolution on Women Peace and Security	20003 20005 20009	53,000	•
	Description : The Women's Rights Convention ('UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women'), adopted by the UN General Assembly on the 18th of December 1979, is a United Nations international convention on women's rights. On the 31st of October 2000, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325, which deals with the role of women in peace and security processes. This was the first time that the participation of women was confirmed as necessary to build and maintain peace. Conflict prevention, peace processes and post‐conflict rehabilitation were thus recognised as women's and thus human rights. And for the first time, the Security Council made it clear that sexualised and gender‐based violence is a crime that must be systematically punished and eliminated. The core of the resolution is the participation of women in peace processes, the prevention of wars and protection against gender‐based violence. This resolution laid the foundation for the 'Women, Peace and Security Agenda'. The coin designer Antonella Napolione chose a Venus symbol representing the female sex, partly superimposed by three female heads depicted in profile. The issue occasion "UNSCR 1325" (acronym for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325) is shown in two lines at the bottom right of the Venus symbol. In English, "WOMEN PEACE SECURITY" is written in an arc at the top and on the right, with a stylised olive branch behind each of the three words. At the bottom left, the country of issue and the year of issue are indicated in the form of an arc with "MALTA 2022". The designer's signet "A.NAPOLIONE" is visible at the bottom centre. The coin was produced without mint mark by the Royal Dutch mint Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt in Houten.

🔎		Lithuania	20 Dec. 2022	Suvalkija 4th coin in the series on Lithuanian Ethnographical Regions	20003 20005 20009	500,000	•
	Description : Suvalkija is one of Lithuania's ethnographic regions in the south‐west of the country, part of the historical Sudovia landscape. The old Prussian tribe of the Sudovians/Jatwingers resisted the knights of the Teutonic Order for the longest time. It was not until 1283 that the Sudau prince Skomand adopted the Christian faith and gave up resistance. In the Peace of Lake Melno in 1422, the Order had to relinquish most of Sudau, which since then belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and thus, from 1596, to the Polish‐Lithuanian Noble Republic. With the Third Polish Partition, this larger part of Sudau came to Russia in 1795. From 1815 onwards, the area was the north‐eastern corner of Congress Poland, which was bound to Russia in personal union and deprived of any independence after the Polish Uprising of 1830. In 1918, northern Sudovia became part of the newly constituted Lithuanian state, initially under German occupation. From 1939 to 1944, the south‐eastern part of Sudauen was annexed directly by the Greater German Reich as the 'Suwalkizipfel'. Today, the southern part of Sudau with the town of Suwalki (Lithuanian: Suvalkai) belongs to Poland, the northern part with the cultural centre of Marijampolė to Lithuania. Suvalkija has never been an independent political entity. Divided between the administrative district of Mariampolė and part of the administrative district of Alytus from 1994 to 2010, it still has no official status in the structure of Lithuania. Suvalkija is a strongly agricultural region due to comparatively good soils. The Lithuanian dialect Westaukshtaitic spoken in this area forms the basis for the modern Lithuanian language. The coin designed by Rolandas Rimkūnas shows the coat of arms of Suvalkiya with an aurochs (once the dominant animal species of this region) in the shield. This is flanked on either side by acorn‐bearing oak branches instead of shield holders, joined at the bottom by a ribbon bearing the motto "VIENYBĖ TEŽYDI" (May unity prosper). At the top is the issuing country "LIETUVA" (Lithuania) and below it the year of issue "2022", below at the bottum it the occasion of issue "SUVALKIJA". Above it is the circular mint mark "LMK" of the Lithuanian mint Lietuvos monetų kalykla in Vilnius.

🔎		Andorra	16 Jan. 2023	10th anniversary of the monetary agreement between Andorra and the European Union	20003 20005 20009	70,000	•
	Description : The Principality of Andorra traditionally did not have an official currency, but used de facto Spanish and French banknotes and coins, which were replaced by euro banknotes and coins on the 1st of January 2002, following the introduction of the euro as book money on the 1st of January 1999. A Monetary Agreement between the European Union and the Principality of Andorra was concluded on the 30th of June 2011 and the euro was introduced as the official currency of Andorra on the 1st of April 2012. Bullion and collector coins denominated in diners (els diners = money in Catalan) issued by the Principality are not legal tender in the European Union. The minting of diners was started in 1977 by the Bishop of Urgell in his capacity as co‐Prince of Andorra and carried out by the Servei d'Emissions, the episcopal mint. A diner was equivalent to 100 pesetas from 1983 to 1985, and 125 pesetas thereafter. From 1998, the Consell General de les Valls, the Parliament of Andorra, also issued diner coins; however, they too were not used in commerce. The commemorative coin, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the start of the monetary agreement with the EU, shows the euro symbol in a semicircle surrounded by six five‐pointed stars in the upper left‐hand corner and the dates "2012" and "2022" in two lines to the right. The issuing country "ANDORRA" is mentioned at the top right. The lower half of the coin motif is formed by puzzle pieces symbolising the interlocking of the countries participating in the euro. Andorran coins are minted alternately in the countries of the co‐Princes of Andorra; in 2022 this was the turn of the Royal Mint Real Casa de la Moneda in Madrid.

🔎		Andorra	16 Jan. 2023	The legend of Charlemagne	20003 20005 20009	70,000	•
	Description : According to legend, Andorra was founded in 805 by Emperor Charlemagne (748‐814), who is said to have given its inhabitants their own legal status. In fact, however, the country belonged to the Spanish Marche founded by Charlemagne, a territory he had taken from the Moors. In a letter from his grandson, Charles the Bold, to the Count of Barcelona, the Andorran territory is defined as belonging to the Count of Urgell in 843. In 1133, Count Ermengol VI of Urgell sold his lordship rights in the valleys of Andorra to the Bishop of Urgell. The bishops of Urgell entrusted the defence and jurisdiction of Andorra to the noble family of Caboet, who received their own fiefs in the valleys of Andorra and Sant Joan as vassals. The last Caboet heiress married Arnau, the vice‐count of Castelbon, in 1185. The latter was an ardent Cathar and, in alliance with the Count Raimund Roger of Foix, who lived on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, tried to rid himself of his vassalage to the Bishop of Urgell. To this end, he married his heiress daughter to the future Count of Foix in 1202, transferring the Caboet estate in Andorra to this influential family. The Counts of Foix refused to enter into a vassal relationship with the bishops of Urgell. The conflict was settled in 1278 when Bishop Pere d'Urtx and Count Roger Bernard III agreed in the 'Treaty of Pareatges' to divide the rule over the disputed territory. The two parties recognised each other as equal lords over Andorra. This treaty marked the de facto foundation of the Co‐principality of Andorra. While the Bishop of Urgell remained in his treaty rights, those of the Counts of Foix passed to the French Crown in 1594 with the appointment of the last Count of Foix, Henry of Bourbon, as King of France, in whose legal succession the Presidents of France still stand today. The coin shows Charlemagne after a painting by Albrecht Dürer created in 1511/13 (today in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg), with the imperial sword and the imperial crown, the crown of the kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire (today in the Imperial Treasury of the Vienna Hofburg). The silhouettes of the mountains of Andorra form the background, and the bend of the Valira River is depicted on the left. On the top it says "ANDORRA", on the right the year of issue "2022". Andorran coins are minted alternately in the countries of the co-Princes of Andorra; in 2022 this was the turn of the Royal Mint Real Casa de la Moneda in Madrid.

⇓ 2023 ⇓

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"
20009	Text with kind permission by Gerd Seyffert © "Gerd Seyffert 2023"	20010	Not Applicable