2018-05-15 Tue

260,000 circulating commemorative €2 coins will be issued in May or June by Belgium to mark the 50th anniversary of one of the country’s most significant political revolutions.

There were a lot of internal conflicts between the Flemish- and French-speaking populations of Belgium 50 years ago. Historical records of May 1968 suggest that there were regional autonomy and the valuation of the Dutch language in Flanders. Students fought the French dominance at the Catholic University in Leuven. A bilingual university in Brussels was divided into two, Flemish Free University and the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. The event deeply influenced Belgium’s national politics and government reforms.

The reverse of the coin depicts students holding a pamphlet and flag. The background shows a university auditorium. The Mint mark of Utrecht showing Mercury’s wand and Belgian mint master mark showing the coat of arms of the municipality Herzele are also inscribed. 12 stars of the European flag are shown on the ringed-bimetallic coin’s copper-aluminum-nickel outer ring. The core of the coin is made of a copper-nickel mixture. A map of the European Union is shown on the common reverse of the 8.5 grams coin.

Image Courtesy: European Commission