Bank of Greece Dedicates Collector Coin to “Myrtis”

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Greek’s new 5 euro silver collector coin is dedicated to “Myrtis”, a girl that died in 430 BC during the Plague of Athens and whose facial features were reconstructed thanks to modern technology.
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The Ministry of Finance authorised the Bank of Greece to dispense to the public the €5 silver collector coin dedicated to: “MYRTIS”.

For its booth at World Money Fair Berlin 2020, the Bank of Greece had brought a reconstruction of an ancient girl named Myrtis to the fair, which will decorate a 5 euro coin in 2020. Photo: UK

In 430 BC Athens was afflicted by an epidemic called the Plague of Athens. One victim was an 11-year-old girl whose remains were found by archaeologists in 1994/1995 in a mass grave. Her skull was particularly well preserved and thanks to modern technology it was possible to recreate her facial features. Researchers called the girl “Myrtis”, a common name because apparently she was also a “common person”. Actually it is the first attempt to reconstruct an Ancient Greek layperson’s face. Because of these circumstances the UN Regional Information Centre made Myrtis a Friend of the Millenium Goals to end poverty.

Greece / 5 euros / Silver collector coin / MYRTIS / Mintage: 2,500.

The Ministry of Finance authorised the Bank of Greece to dispense to the public the €5 silver collector coin dedicated to: “MYRTIS”. The maximum mintage is 2,500 coins.

 

For more information about the coin visit the website of the Bank of Greece.

Here you can find out more about Greece’s numismatic programme 2020.

Read more about “Myrtis” in the Wikipedia entry.

You can see further images of the reconstructed face in this article.

And read here more about what we can learn from the Plague of Athens during this Covid-19 pandemic.