We recently covered the Monnaie de Paris release of a coin commemorating a milestone event in European history, seventy years of continuous peace on the continent. Given the age of the European states, you’d think seventy years of peace wouldn’t be that big a deal, but staggeringly, it’s actually the longest period without war since the end of the Pax Romana in 180 A.D. Certainly worth commemorating then and both these coins, like the Monnaie de Paris one, are released as part of the 2015 European Silver Star programme which has the event as its theme for this year.

The Mint of Finland coin is a super one. Designed very much in keeping with the mints unique sense of style, the designer Petri Neuvonen has done a fine job portaying the anniversary in an abstract, but understandable manner. There are 10,000 of these being struck, with just seventy being numbered on the reverse side, and packaged in the mints glass case. At 17g of sterling silver, the price of $45 is reasonable enough.

The Istituto Poligrafico E Zecca Dello Stato, fortunately for the lifespan of my keyboard better known as IPZS, is the Italian state mint and as such releases coins carrying the Euro denomination. Also part of the 2015 European Silver Star programme, their own silver coin commemorating this landmark event is similarly struck in sterling 0.925 silver, although at 22g and €60.00, is bigger and more expensive than the Finnish coin and closer to the French one. Designed in a far more classical style than the strictly contemporary Finnish and French coins, it’s an elegant work on both faces, and the different approach and subsequent increase in the variety of styles applied to the anniversary is certainly welcome.

Both coins are available now.

MINT OF FINLAND DESCRIPTION

In 2015, 70 years will have passed from the end of the Second World War. The 70 Years of Peace in Europe collector coin designed in honour of these years of peace is a fantastic memento, gift or addition to your own collection. Order the coin celebrating peace from our online shop!

Instead of the conventional dove often used to symbolise peace, the collector coin’s motifs depict the dramatic juxtaposition of war and peace, but also the bridge connecting the two. Behind the arch of a bridge on the coin’s reverse lie the elements of ruin and destruction that symbolise war: debris and flames. On the coin’s obverse, shoots, leaves and fruits wind along the same arch, symbolising peace and growth. The coin’s obverse and reverse, peace and war, meet on the deck of the bridge.

The maximum mintage of the proof-quality EUR 10 silver collector coin is 10,000, and 70 coins will be numbered. The coins are numbered on the reverse, and the numbered coins are sold separately in glass cases.

Proof-quality collector coins are minted with a polished die, finished, and placed in a protective clear plastic casing set in a gift box that tells the coin’s story.

The 70 Years of Peace in Europe collector coin is part of the European Silver Star programme in which European countries release coins with a shared theme. The collector coin is designed by Petri Neuvonen.

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IPZS ITALY MINT DESCRIPTION

1945 marks the end of World War II, a global event causing a deep, still open wound in the heart of Europe, which was left devastated by racial laws, extermination camps and genocide. For the past seventy years the European Union has represented a secure stronghold of democracy and human rights, thus being awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize 2012.

REVERSE: peace, half reclining in three-quarter view, with an olive branch in her left hand: detail from the fresco painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti on the subject of the Good Government for the Sala dei Nove of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena; on the right, a stylized dove and the stars of the European Union; above, the value “10 EURO”; on the left, the letter “R” identifying the Mint of Rome, and the dates “1945
2015”, i.e. the year of the anniversary and that of the coin’s issue respectively; below, arch-shaped inscription “70 ANNI DI PACE IN EUROPA” .

OBVERSE: a dove, symbol of peace, is held by a feminine fiure, an allegory of Europe, with the number “70” standing for the anniversary of peace, and the stars of the European Union in her hair; an olive branch bordering the logo of the Europe Star Programme completes the representation; archshaped inscription “REPUBBLICA ITALIANA” followed by the name of the designer “COLANERI” .