Greece releases commemorative €2 coins for 2018

Greece has released two designs for its commemorative 2018 €2 coins.

Both copper-nickel coins include the palmette Mint mark of the Greek Mint and the monogram of artist, George Stamatopoulos.

One of the commemorative 2018 €2 coin signifies the union of the Dodecanese with Greece that occurred 70 years ago. The Dodecanese are a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea, that were under foreign rule for 740 years, before they were formally united with Greece in 1947, following World War II. 

This coin features a rose in its centre, the symbol of Rhodes (one of the main islands in the  Dodecanese group) and inscribed along the rim is “1948-2018 Η ΕΝΩΣΗ ΤΟΝ ΔΩΔΕΚΑΝΗΣΩΝ ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΚΑΙ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ”, translating to “1948-2018 the union of the Dodecanese with Greece and Hellenic Republic.”

The other commemorative coin celebrates Greek Poet Kostis Palamas, 75 years after his death. Kostis Palamas was a central figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s and wrote the words to the Olympic Anthem, which was performed for the first time at the opening ceremony of the first Summer Olympics in 1896 which was held in Athens, Greece.

The coin features a portrait of the poet, and inscribed in Greek his name “ΚΩΣΤΗΣ ΠΑΛΑΜΑΣ” and the county Greece “ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ” along the gold rim.

The European Commission announced a total of 750,000 commemorative €2 coins per design are expected to be released sometime in the middle of 2018.