2018-05-09 Wed

France released a new circulating commemorative €2 coin featuring the great leader and activist Simone Veil. After surviving Holocaust and deportation to Auschwitz, she led from the front to implement France’s abortion laws in 1975. 89-year-old Veil died in June 2017. She was not only the first elected president of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982 but was also elected to the French Academy in 2008.

The collar of her shirt in the coin’s portrait on the copper-nickel core features the deportation registration number. The European Parliament is featured in the background. Other inscriptions include her name, important dates, RF for the Republic of France, year of release 2018 and the Mint marks.

15 million coins will be released in May or June. 12 stars of the European flag are depicted on the €2 8.5 grams ringed-bimetallic coin’s outer copper-aluminum-nickel ring. A map of the European Union is depicted on the reverse.

Image Courtesy: The European Commission