2 Euro Belgium 2019 - 25 years of the European Monetary Institute

Description:

The central part of the piece reproduces, on the right, a portrait of Alexandre Lamfalussy, the first president of the IME. His name appears below the portrait. On the center left are the initials "EMI" and the year 1994, referring to the date of the Institute's creation and Lamfalussy's appointment as its first president. Beneath the "EMI" acronym, several coins are shown falling on top of each other and containing, from top to bottom, the inscriptions "€", "ECU" and "BEF". As this coin is issued by Belgium, we have chosen "BEF", the abbreviation of our former national currency. The purpose of this representation is to symbolize the transition from national currencies to a single European currency: the euro. The main objective of the EMI was to set up the European System of Central Banks, in particular the ECB, and the new currency. On the upper left-hand side of the coin is the inscription "European Monetary Institute".

Since the coins will be minted by the Royal Dutch Mint, the Utrecht mintmark, a caduceus of Mercury, appears on the left, accompanied by the coat of arms of the municipality of Herzele, the mintmark of the director of the Belgian mint. The country code "BE" and the year 2019 appear at the bottom. The initials "LL" of Mr. Luc Luycx, who designed the coin, appear on the right.

Quality: UNC

Production run: 155,000 pieces