Belgium

2011

Commemorative coin

100th anniversary of International Women’s Day

Official Journal of the European Union

The inner part of the coin displays the effigy of Isala Van Diest, the first Belgian woman doctor, and Marie Popelin, the first Belgian woman lawyer. The names are written under the effigies and around the year ‘2011’, and are crowned with the symbol of the corresponding profession. Above the effigies, to the left and right respectively of the indication of the issuing country, ‘BE’, the mark of the mint master and the mint mark are shown. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

The coin commemorating the 100th International Women's Day shows the physician Isala van Diest (1842-1916) on the left next to the staff of Asclepius entwined by a snake and the educator and jurist Marie Popelin (1846-1913) on the right next to the scales of Justice as an attribute. Both had a decisive influence on the Belgian women's movement. Their portraits appear in front of a slightly slanted Venus symbol representing the female sex.

Edge lettering

Designer