On 29th May, Estonia released a circulating commemorative €2 coin to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the country’s Song Festival. A drawing competition was organised in 2017 for children to finalise the obverse design. Out of the 8,000 submissions, 96 were selected by a jury comprising of staff from the central bank. Each entry was reviewed by at least three people. 8 entries (two from each age group) were chosen by the coin selection panel in January 2018. Finally, the winning design was selected through a 3-week long public online voting system.

15-year-old Grete-Lisette Gulbis from Torva was announced as the winner in March 2018. Out of a total of 8,322 votes, Grete-Lisette Gulbis received 2,887 votes. National costumes, Song Festival procession and the wave-like movement of participants were some of the inspirations behind her design.

Out of the 1 million coins that will be issued, 10,000 will be struck in Brilliant Uncirculated quality and sold on a coin card. The reverse side features the same design that’s featured on all other €2 coins.

Image Courtesy: Eesti Pank