Netherlands

Commemorative coin

2012

10 years of the Euro

(Part of the joint issue " 10 years of the Euro ")

Official Journal of the European Union

To celebrate 10 years of the Euro, euro-area Finance Ministers decided that euro-area Member States would strike a 2-euro commemorative coin using a common design on the national side. Euro-area citizens and residents have selected by public web-voting the winning design. Voters had a choice of five designs, which had been pre-selected by a professional jury following a design competition among citizens from the whole euro area, and they choose the design created by Mr Helmut Andexlinger, professional designer at the Austrian Mint. Issuing countries: Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland The Euro-sign in the centre of the coin shows that the Euro has become an element of particular importance in Europe as well all over the world as the Euro evolved to a global player in the international monetary system in the last 10 years. The design elements around the Euro-symbol on the coin express the importance of the Euro to the people, to the financial world (ECB tower), to trading (ships), to industry (factories), to the energy sector and research and development (wind power stations). The initials AH of the artist appear under the image of the ECB tower. The name(s) of the issuing country in the national language(s) appear(s) at the top, while the indication 2002-2012 appears at the bottom. The outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag. Legends: NEDERLAND/2002-2012 Mintmark: The Mint Master mark and the mintmark appear on the right hand side of the design

Additional information

The euro symbol superimposed on a globe illustrates that the euro, as the new common currency, has become an extraordinarily important factor in Europe and worldwide and has developed into a global player in the international monetary system over the last ten years. According to the designer, the figurative elements arranged around the stylised globe represent the idea that the euro offers more opportunities for businesses and markets, thus ensuring economic stability by encouraging investment in this environment: Symbol Factory for industrial production and Cargo Ship for trade. This in turn benefits citizens by providing more quality jobs and the euro leads to more stable consumer prices: Symbol of a family of four and three homes. This environment in turn strengthens finance (symbol Eurotower in Frankfurt/M.) and stimulates innovative investments (symbol two wind turbines). All this results in a cycle whose central element is the euro.

Edge lettering

Designer