A new two-euro commemorative coin dedicated to the 1275th anniversary of the birth of the “Father of Europe” – Emperor Charlemagne (Karl der Große, 748 – 814) was minted and put into circulation in Germany. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of Finance a few days before the expected date of birth of this medieval monarch – King of the Franks and Emperor of the West, who made an outstanding contribution to the history of the European continent. Historians consider April 2 to be the birthday of Charlemagne, but there are discrepancies about the year – 742, 747 or 748.
Charlemagne was the first who, after the fall of the Roman Empire, was able to unite most of Western and Central Europe, becoming the founder of the Carolingian Empire (800-887) and initiating the Carolingian Renaissance – a period of development and flourishing of literature, architecture, fine arts, accumulation and dissemination of knowledge in monasteries, with which established libraries and schools.
Commemorative coin design – octagon and monogram
In Germany, the main architectural monument of this era is the Aachen Cathedral – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A schematic representation of the octagon, in the form of which the chapel-tomb of Charlemagne in Aachen, the oldest part of the cathedral, was erected, was used to sketch the national side of the new coin.
The second design element was the personal monogram of the emperor. The year of issue is also indicated here, to the right of which are the letter “D” (Deutschland – Germany) and the letter that designates one of the five German mints (“A”, “D”, “F”, “G” or “J” ).
On the edge of the coin, in addition to the first words from the German anthem “Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit” (“Unity, Law and Freedom”), the initials of the author of the sketch, the Berlin artist Tobias Winnen, are also indicated.
On the European side, a standard image is minted – a map of the European Union without internal borders. The total circulation of the commemorative coin, the official means of payment throughout the eurozone, will be 20 million copies.