2018-06-05 Tue

Themes and designs for two 2018 circulating commemorative €2 coins were recently revealed by Greece. The 70th anniversary of the union of the Dodecanese with Greece is celebrated on one coin. The Dodecanese is a group of 15 major islands and 93 smaller islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea that were under another rule for 740 years.

The coin depicts a rose at the centre which is a symbol of one of the main islands of the group – Rhodes. Flames come out of the core’s rim border which contains a legend in Greek translating to “1948-2018 the union of the Dodecanese with Greece and Hellenic Republic” The ringed-bimetallic coin has a copper-nickel core.

The second coin would honour the Greek poet Kostis Palamas (1859 - 1943) on his 75th Death anniversary. The reverse depicts a portrait of Kostis Palamas, his name and the country name in Greek.

Palmette Mint mark of the Greek Mint and the monogram of the artist, George Stamatopoulos are featured on both coins. 750,000 commemorative €2 coins per design would be released in mid-2018. The outer, copper-aluminum-nickel ring features 12 stars of the European flag. The 8.5 grams coin’s common reverse shows a map of the European Union.

Image Courtesy: The European Commission