Portugal will issue its very first commemorative €2 coins in 2007. And not just one but two: First the country will participate, like all other euro countries, in the 50 Years Treaty of Rome program. As mentioned before, the design will be the same for all issues, except that the inscriptions will be "localized". This is what the Portuguese piece will look like:



Then the country plans to issue a commem dedicated to the Portuguese EU Presidency (second half of 2007). Here is a draft image:



Mintage about 1 million each ...

Christian

What metals are they using? Anybody know the signifigance of the tree?

As for the alloy, that is the same as what is used for all other €2 coins -
Ring (silverish part): Cu75 Ni25
Center: a Magnimat "sandwich" (nickel core, Cu75 Zn20 Ni05 plated)

Not sure about the tree. I guess it symbolizes growth and/or stability ...

Christian

This one with a tree is ugly.

And you haven't seen the "silver" coins the INCM are issuing! Artistic monstrosities!
It was because of these Portuguese coins that Christian stopped posting all the new Euro commemorative issues, specially after those posts caused some coinpeeps to develop catatonic symptoms...

Jose

Just stay away from those "ugly" early 20th century Portuguese coins, stick to the moderns says I.

Actually I was very disappointed by this year's "Henrique O Navegador" coin. (A few others are similarly minimalistic, but what can you expect from football coins. ) The Portuguese Mint does a better job though when it comes to the "Patrimonio Mundial" (World Cultural Heritage) series ...

Christian

Forget it! I really like the portuguese coins. And colonials too...

Sorry, aint happening. Just picked up 4 more yesterday!

Christian,wouldn't this technically be in breach of the European Central Bank's directive,which limits a country to only 1 commemorative 2 Euro coin,or has a special dispensation been granted? I know that Germany is also issuing 2 commemorative 2 Euro coins this year as well - the Treaty of Rome one & the German Lander commemorative.

Aidan.

Could the tree be a representation of the Tree of Life?

I dont know much about the tree of Life, but I know some cultures beleive that there is a tree that has lived such a long time, that it is beleived to help people live longer if they take a leaf from it..... The leaves are also used as good luck charms as well....

When is the release date?

Scheduled:

Presidency of the Council of the European Union: June 07
50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome: March 07

But delays are usual...


Jose

In another forum I read that the tree could be a cork oak. ("Portugal accounts for 50% of the world cork harvest.") That would not have much to do with the Presidency, but who knows ...

Christian

No, that issue is within the limits set by the Commission recommendation and the Council conclusion. Since the "Treaty of Rome" coin is issued by all EU member states that use the euro, it does not affect the "one per year" limit. See Article 2 (a) of the Commission Recommendation of 29 September 2003 on a common practice for changes to the design of national obverse sides of euro circulation coins (which the European Council adopted in December 2003):

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUri...03H0734:EN:HTML
(...) the number of issues should be limited to one per issuing State per year (...) This limit would not apply to possible commemorative euro circulation coins collectively issued by all euro-area countries (...)

(By the way, the ECB only controls the quantities of coins issued by the member states; it does not set such specifications.)

Christian

Christian,it is a pity the the 16 member states of the Euro-Zone are restricted to issuing one circulating commemorative 2 Euro coin per year.It would have been nice if they could get around that restriction by issuing a commemorative 1 Euro coin or a commemorative 1 Euro-Cent coin.

Do you agree with me on this?

Aidan.

BTW, here's the remainder of Portuguese commemorative/collection issues:

LINK


Jose

Jose,those are very nice coin design from Portugal.The Scout Centenary silver 5 Euros is sure to be a very popular piece to collect.

The 8 Euros is a very odd denomination.It is as odd as the Spanish silver 12 Euros.

Aidan.

Indeed. The same applies to the 25 cent gold coin, for example. But those collector coins are not issued for circulation anyway, some of them cannot be obtained at face value, and each of them is legal tender in the issuing member state only. The circulation coins, and the €2 commemorative coins, are valid anywhere in Euroland.

As I explained, the limit is not really "one €2 commem per year". Greece for example issued a high mintage commem in 2004 and thus could not issue any in the following years. This year, on the other hand, several member states issue two commems since the Treaty of Rome coin is counted differently. Would I want a €1 commem? Basically fine, except that the piece may be a little too small for nice designs. But a 1 cent coin? Nah. They are too expensive to make anyway, so if there was a 1 ct commem, it would have to be sold above face. Or else the non-collectors among the taxpayers would legitimately complain.

Christian

Thanks for the link, Jose! The Ibero-American series is interesting anyway; too bad that your Iberian neighbors charge so much for their issues. And the Scouting Movement coin could be very interesting for theme collectors (for example, I already have the UK 50p scouting commem). The Cultural Heritage series is a neat idea, and those pieces are usually nicely designed. Not as minimalistic as some others, hehe.

Christian

Picture of the new €2 commem (Portuguese EU Presidency):



The loose coins should be available as from 8 July. Special sets/packs will follow later.

Christian