Monnaie de Paris week soldiers on with a coin celebrating an extremely worthy milestone, and one that strikes a particular chord today considering events in the Ukraine; seventy years of peace in Europe. Europe has always had a history of warfare unlike anywhere else on the planet. Many ambitious, empire-building, technologically advanced nations in close proximity is never a recipe for calm and quiet, but Europe has essentially been a battleground for centuries. Both World Wars originated on the continent and the efficiency and brutality of the warfare belies the high standard of living and democratic principles of the states located here. There have been no wars amongst the European states since the end of the Second World War in 1945. Amazingly, this seventy year period of peace is the longest in the continents history since the end of the Pax Romana in 180 A.D.

The Monnaie de Paris have released a new coin depicting the goddess Europa, the embodiment of the continent, on its obverse. On the reverse side is a dove, the symbolic representation of peace, flying across a sky filled with the country codes of all the states in the European Union. It’s a pretty coin, available in 0.900 silver and four sizes of gold from 0.5g up to 5oz. Boxed with a certificate the coin is available to purchase now.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

Europa – 70 years of Peace in Europe
The Union’s motto is “Unity in diversity”, it characterizes the way Europeans did gather, creating the European Union to act in favor of peace and prosperity, taking the most of the continent’s different cultures, traditions and languages. The obverse depicts the goddess Europa with star-studded hair flotting in the wind. Dressed with flags, her face stands nxt to flagstaffs representing the different countries joined in the European Union. Twelve circles with the € sign symbolise the twelve stars of the Euopean flag. The word “EUROPA” written vertically gives the series its name. Yeardate and mintmarks appear on the bottom center of the coin.

The dove is a peace symbol. It comes from the story of Noah’s ark. The dove carries the sign of the end of the flood that endangers the ark. The dove is carrying an olive branch and announces peace on earth. On the coin’s reverse, the dove is drawn in a graphical and modern way. It carries in its beak an olive branch whose branches have been replaced by the 12 stars of the European Flag, symbol of peace in Europe. The 28 countries of the European Union are symbolised by their own ISO code. The Europa Star logo is present on the reverse, close to the dove.

The serie Europa and European Silver Program
This series celebrates greats accomplishments of the European integration. The figure of Europa as a woman, star-studded hair floating in the wind, has been used since 1999 on the first coins explaining the ‘Europarity’ with face values in Euro.

The European Silver Program gathers the European Union countries in the definition a common programme on issues of commemorative coins. Every year, the monetary institutes of every member launch a new theme that evokes the European identity. The program’s logo is an E designed as a € sign and a star. In 2015, the Europa series carries this programme values with the theme Peace in Europe. This year, the 7 members are Belgium, Spain, Finland, France, Italy and Portugal.

ADVERTISEMENTS

icon
iconicon
iconicon
icon

SPECIFICATION

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
€10 EURO 0.900 SILVER 22.2 g 37.00 mm PROOF 10,000 YES / YES
€50 EURO 0.999 GOLD 0.5 g 11.00 mm PROOF 10,000 YES / YES
€50 EURO 0.920 GOLD 8.45 g 22.00 mm PROOF 1,000 YES / YES
€200 EURO 0.999 GOLD 31.104 g 37.00 mm PROOF 500 YES / YES
€500 EURO 0.999 GOLD 155.5 g 50.00 mm PROOF 99 YES / YES