The panel invited by Eesti Pank has chosen the winning entries in the design competitions for three collector coins that will be minted and enter into circulation in 2022.
- The silver collector coin dedicated to the Estonian athletes at the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in Beijing will use a design by Liis Dvorjanski.
- The silver collector coin dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Johan Pitka will use a design by Tiiu Pirsko and Mati Veermets.
- The gold collector coin dedicated to the Livonian Diet will use a design by Riho Luuse.
The Winning Collector Coin Designs
The design of the collector coin for the Winter Olympics in Beijing is inspired by conifers alongside ski slopes and represents the landscape of the Olympic venue. The view is surrounded by the Olympic rings. Second place in the design competition for the silver coin for the winter Olympics went to Nora Pelšs and Erki-Eric Pillmann. Third place went to the design by Mai Bauvald. In total 47 designs were submitted for the competition.
The collector coin dedicated to Johan Pitka shows a portrait of Pitka, who was a sea captain and Rear Admiral, and founder of the Estonian Defence League, the border guard and the Navy. There were 26 entries in the design competition and both second and third places went to designs by the Polish designer Sebastian Mikolajczak.
The gold coin dedicated to the Livonian Diet depicts a cross ornamented with plant leaves, using an idea from a carving in dolomite above the door of the southern vestibule of the Karja Church in Northern Saaremaa, built in 1334–1340. The design symbolises the unified, certain and continuing growth and spread of Christianity in the Middle Ages. The Livonian Diet was convened with the same goal. Second place in the design competition for the gold coin went to Heino Prunsvelt and third to Tiiu Pirsko and Mati Veermets. There were 18 designs submitted for the competition.
The prize for the winner of each design competition is 1,500 euros, with the second placed design receiving 1,000 euros, and the third placed 700.
Preparations will be made to mint the coins from the winning designs from the design competitions, and the designs may be changed for technical reasons. Eesti Pank will publish the final appearance of the coins before they are issued.
The Winning Designers
All of the winning designers have previously won multiple times in design competitions organized by the central bank for collector and commemorative coins and their designs have also previously been minted as coins.
Liis Dvorjanski designed the silver collector coins dedicated to the Estonian National Museum in 2009 and the London Olympic Games in 2012.
Tiiu Pirsko and Mati Veermets designed the silver coin dedicated to the Song and Dance Celebration in 2009, the gold coin for the centenary of the Republic of Estonia in 2018, and the two-euro commemorative coin for the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica in 2020. They also designed the folder for the Estonian euro coins in 2011.
Riho Luuse won the recent design competition for a two-euro coin for the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Estonian Literati. He also designed the two-euro commemorative coin for the centenary of the birth of Paul Keres in 2016 and the gold and silver collector coins dedicated to Hanseatic Tallinn in 2017.
New Estonian 2 Euro Commemorative Coins
Eesti Pank is issuing two 2 euro commemorative coins, or circulating coins with a special design, in 2022. One is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Estonian Society of Literati. The winning design shows an open book with the words of the first president of the Society of Estonian Literati Jacob Hurt written on it: “Kui me ei saa suureks rahvaarvult, peame saama suureks vaimult”, meaning ‘If we cannot be a great nation in number, we must be great in spirit’.
The Society of Estonian Literati was founded in 1872 in Viljandi. The society was founded to promote literature and writing in Estonian and through that to raise the level of culture of the Estonian nation.
The winning designer, Riho Luuse, is the designer who also created the two-euro coin dedicated to Paul Keres that was issued in 2016 and the gold and silver collector coins dedicated to Hanseatic Tallinn in 2017.
The prize for the winner of the design competition is 1500 euros, with the second placed design receiving 1000 euros, and the third placed 700.
The second 2 Euro commemorative coin marks the 35th anniversary of the start of the European student exchange programme Erasmus. The design for this coin was chosen in March from a public vote organized by the European Commission.
Suggestions for collector coins and commemorative coins
Eesti Pank is happy to receive suggestions for collector coins and commemorative coins to be issued in 2023. The bank passes all the suggestions it receives to the advisory committee for expert opinion. The proposals of the advisory committee are used by the management of Eesti Pank when they decide on which commemorative and collector coins to issue. Make a suggestion!
Find more Estonian Euro coins at Cosmos of Collectibles.
Read this article about the rare Estonian 2 Euro Commemorative Coins.
