Banks, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services

The commemorative coin with the new design, approximately 90 million of which have been minted in total, will enter circulation in 2012 in all euro area countries, writes LETA.

The commemorative coins are ordinary legal tender with a special design.

The Bank of Estonia will issue two million two euros commemorative coins. The Bank of Estonia will provide banks with the new coins as of January 2 based on their need for coins.

The design of the new euro coin was chosen from five possibilities by the residents of the euro area by online voting. The designs were entered into a public competition organized by the European Commission by residents of euro area countries.

The design chosen by the public vote symbolizes the importance of the euro, the fact that it has become an internationally prestigious currency in the past decade and its effect on people's everyday life and the fields of commerce, industry and energy. This concept is expressed by the inclusion of people, a ship, a factory and wind power plants in the design of the coin. The coin also bears the numbers 2002 and 2012.

The designer is Helmut Andexlinger, a professional designer of the Austrian Mint.

Although the design of the country side of the two euros commemorative coin is the same in all the euro area countries, the identification marks of the issuing countries and the text on the edge are different. The Estonian commemorative coin bears the word "ESTONIA" and the text on the edge of the coin reads "ESTONIA" upright and reversed.

A print quality image of the two euros coin with the special design is available at the Bank of Estonia website.

The new two euros commemorative coins can be bought separately or in rolls at the Museum shop of the Bank of Estonia or at the online store. The price of the coin is its nominal value - two euros. In the case of coin purchases exceeding 1 kilogram in weight, a service charge of 3.20 per 1 kilogram of coins is added. If you are ordering from the online store, we ask that you familiarize yourself with the online store's conditions of use.

The Museum and the Museum shop of the Bank of Estonia are open in 2012 from Tuesday to Friday between noon and 5 p.m., and on Saturdays between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The coins can be ordered from the online store from Monday, January 2.

The commemorative coins are ordinary legal tender with a special design, which are, however, primarily intended for use as commemorative objects and collectibles. Commemorative coins are issued in celebration of an important local or Europe-wide event. Commemorative coins are always two euros coins; other coins are not issued with special designs. Each member state can issue a €2 coin with a special design once per year and such coins are legal tender throughout the euro area.

Once a year, the countries of the euro area can issue a common commemorative coin. The countries where the euro is in use have previously issued commemorative coins with a common country side on two occasions: to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the European Union in 2007 and the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Economic and Monetary Union and the euro as a virtual currency in 2009.