Spain

2005

Commemorative coin

400 years of Don Quixote of La Mancha’

Official Journal of the European Union

The inner part of the coin depicts an image of ‘El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha’, who appears holding a lance, and windmills in the background. To the left, there is a marked sector in which the word ‘ESPAÑA’ appears incused, and underneath this sector the MINT mark ‘M’. On the outer ring of the coin, the twelve stars of the European Union are depicted, with, on the right, four of them (corresponding to the positions 1, 2, 3 and 4 on a clock) incused within an arc. The year of mintage appears at the bottom among three stars.

Additional information

The centre of the coin, designed by Begoña Castellanos García, shows Don Quixote holding a spear with two windmills in the background - one of his most famous episodes in the novel "El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). Don Quixote is a reader addicted to his novels of chivalry, who seems incapable of distinguishing between poetry and truth. He considers himself a proud knight who is supposedly destined to embark on one daring adventure after another. He mounts his rickety horse Rosinante - faithful at his side the only seemingly naive shield-bearer Sancho Panza - and fights windmills, among other things.

Edge lettering

Designer