Italy

2005

Commemorative coin

1st anniversary of the signing of the European Constitution

Official Journal of the European Union

The inner part of the coin shows a representation of Europa and the bull. Europa holds a pen and the text of the European Constitution. To the upper left of the image is the mintmark ‘R’. The initials of the engraver Maria Carmela Colaneri ‘MCC’ appear at the lower left. The year of mintage appears in the top right of the illustration above the head of the bull. In the lower part of the illustration there is the monogram of the Italian Republic, ‘RI’. The words ‘COSTITUZIONE EUROPEA’ form a quasi-semicircle on the lower part of the outer ring. Twelve stars are depicted on the upper part of the outer ring.

Additional information

The draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was drawn up by a European Convention in 2003 and signed by the heads of state and government of the EU member states in Rome on 29 October 2004. Compared to the previously valid Treaty of Nice, the EU was to receive additional competences; furthermore, its institutional structure was to be changed in order to make it more democratic and capable of acting. However, since not all member states ratified the treaty after failed referendums in France and the Netherlands, it did not attain legal force. Instead, in December 2007, European leaders concluded the Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force on 1 December 2009. Europa and Zeus in the shape of a bull are the motif of the coin, together with the Constitution for Europe depicted as a book. Europa holds a quill above the Constitution, symbolic of its signing.

Edge lettering

Designer