Malta

2021

Commemorative coin

Heroes of the Pandemic

Official Journal of the European Union

The design is created by Maria Anna Frisone and depicts two medical professional bracing themselves up to face the unknown. It is meant to extoll the services of these selfless individuals who have been on the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. At the top, in semi-circle, is the inscription ‘HEROES OF THE PANDEMIC’. At the bottom, in semi-circle, is the inscription ‘MALTA – 2021’. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

In the wake of the respiratory syndromes caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronaviruses, the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on 11 March 2020. In Malta, too, the health system reached its limits in caring for the sick. Nurse Diane Faenza took a photo of her colleagues Doreen Zammit and Charmaine Cauchi in the intensive care unit of Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, lying exhausted in each other's arms. Maria Anna Frisone used this photo as a model for her coin design, which pays tribute to the heroes of the pandemic.

Edge lettering

Designer