Greece is issuing commemorative €2 coins honoring the 70th anniversary of the Dodecanese islands’ return to Greece and the 75th anniversary of the death of poet Kostis Palamas.
The Dodecanese is a group of 15 large islands — including Rhodes and Kos — and 93 small islands and islets in the Southeastern Aegean. They were formally united with Greece by the 1947 Peace Treaty with Italy after World War II.
The design, confined to the copper-nickel core of the ringed coin, features a rose — the symbol of Rhodes — inspired from one minted by the ancient city, with stylized waves fanning out to the core’s rim border.
Inscribed along that rim is the phrase “1948-2018 the union of the Dodecanese with Greece and Hellenic Republic” in Greek.
The second €2 coin celebrates poet Kostis Palamas (1859-1943), 75 years after his death. It has a portrait of the artist with his name and the country’s name.
The €2 coin weighs 8.5 grams and measures 25.75 millimeters in diameter.
Both coins include the palmette Mint mark of the Greek Mint and the monogram of the artist, George Stamatopoulos.
A total of 750,000 commemorative €2 coins per design are expected to be released soon, according to an announcement from the European Commission.
The coin’s outer, copper-aluminum-nickel ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag. The common reverse side shows a map of the European Union.
According to Coin World, each nation is allowed to issue up to two different circulating commemorative designs annually, with designs of their choosing. However, few nations issue the maximum number of designs.
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