2008 Coinage
| Maurice Maeterlinck | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Designer: Luc Luycx | Mint: Royal Belgian Mint | |||
| Value: €10 | Alloy: Ag 925 (silver) | Quantity: 20,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2008 | Diameter: 33 mm (1.30 in) | Weight: 18.75 g (0.66 oz; 0.60 ozt) | ||
| Maurice Maeterlinck | ||||
| Designer: Luc Luycx | Mint: Royal Belgian Mint | |||
| Value: €50 | Alloy: Au 999 (gold) | Quantity: 2,500 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2008 | Diameter: 21 mm (0.83 in) | Weight: 6.22 g (0.22 oz; 0.20 ozt) | ||
| This coin was issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Maurice Maeterlinck's greatest contemporary success: L'Oiseau Bleu, written in 1908. Maurice was a Belgian poet, playwright, and essayist writing in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911.
The play premiered on 30 September 1908 at Constantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre and has been turned into several films and a TV series. The story is about a girl called Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl seeking happiness, represented by The Blue Bird of Happiness, aided by the good fairy Berylune. This coin features on its obverse the image of the blue bird spreading its wings and leaving the confines of its cage for freedom. The unusual aspect of this coin is that the bird itself is actually colored in blue (as in the name of the play). Above the bird are the years signifying the 100th anniversary of the Blue Bird play, 1908–2008, and above that is the emblem for the Europa series. In a semicircle around the top rim of the coin is the name of Maurice Maeterlinck, while around the bottom are the words, in French and Dutch respectively, for The Blue Bird. The reverse shows a clear view of all the countries of the Eurozone, surrounded by the word "Belgium" in the three official languages and the face value of 10 euro. |
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| 2008 Olympic Games | ||||
| Designer: Luc Luycx | Mint: Royal Belgian Mint | |||
| Value: €10 | Alloy: Ag 925 (silver) | Quantity: 20,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2008 | Diameter: 33 mm (1.30 in) | Weight: 18.75 g (0.66 oz; 0.60 ozt) | ||
| 2008 Olympic Games | ||||
| Designer: Luc Luycx | Mint: Royal Belgian Mint | |||
| Value: €25 | Alloy: Au 999 (gold) | Quantity: 5,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2008 | Diameter: 18 mm (0.71 in) | Weight: 3.11 g (0.11 oz; 0.10 ozt) | ||
| On the occasion of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, the Royal Mint of Belgium have issued a commemorative coin in silver. The reverse shows on the right side a nominal value of 10 euro and the year of issue (2008), and in the center a map of Europe with all 27 member states of the EU.
The obverse carries on the right side a symbol of the Belgian Olympic Committee, in the center an analog of the Olympic flambeau, which will constantly burn during the Olympic Games, and on the left side symbols of four Olympic disciplines: cycling, hockey, athletics and tennis. The same coin was also minted in pure gold, with a face value of 25 euros. A particularity of this gold coin is that for the first time since the introduction of the euro in coins in 2002, the Belgian Mint is minting a coin with a face value of 25 euro. |
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| The Smurfs – 50th Anniversary | ||||
| Designer: Luc Luycx | Mint: Royal Belgian Mint | |||
| Value: €5 | Alloy: Ag 925 (silver) | Quantity: 18,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2008 | Diameter: 30 mm (1.18 in) | Weight: 15 g (0.53 oz; 0.48 ozt) | ||
| The Smurfs – 50th Anniversary | ||||
| Designer: Luc Luycx | Mint: Royal Belgian Mint | |||
| Value: €5 | Alloy: Ag 925 (silver) | Quantity: 7,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2008 | Diameter: 30 mm (1.18 in) | Weight: 15 g (0.53 oz; 0.48 ozt) | ||
| Fifty years after their first appearance in a Comics book, the Smurfs are still to be reckoned among the most popular comics figures in the world. This issue celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Smurfs, and the 80th birthday of its inventor, Peyo. The figure of a smurf can be seen in the obverse of the coin (plain silver in one issue, colored in the other). | ||||
| Albert I | ||||
| Designer: Luc Luycx | Mint: Royal Belgian Mint | |||
| Value: €12.50 | Alloy: Au 999 (gold) | Quantity: 10,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2008 | Diameter: 14 mm (0.55 in) | Weight: 1.25 g (0.04 oz; 0.04 ozt) | ||
| On the obverse is the effigy of Albert I, and the inscription ALBERTVS I with the date 2008.
On the reverse, a seated lion can be observed under the words "Belgium" in the three official languages, on top of the face value of 12.50 euro. |
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| 50th Anniversary of the International Expo in Belgium | ||||
| Designer: Luc Luycx | Mint: Royal Belgian Mint | |||
| Value: €100 | Alloy: Au 999 (gold) | Quantity: 3,000 | Quality: Proof | |
| Issued: 2008 | Diameter: 29 mm (1.14 in) | Weight: 15.5 g (0.55 oz; 0.50 ozt) | ||
| The International Expo in Belgium, also known as Expo 58 or Brussels World’s Fair, was held from 17 April to 19 October 1958. It was the first major World's Fair after World War II.
The site is best known for a giant model of a unit cell of an iron crystal (each sphere representing an atom), called the Atomium, which decades later remains one of the best known landmarks of Brussels. More than 42 million visitors visited the site, which was opened with a call for world peace and social and economic progress, issued by King Baudouin I. This coin was issued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this event; on the obverse of the coin the logo of the exposition is depicted. |
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Read more about this topic: Euro Gold And Silver Commemorative Coins (Belgium)
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“Designs in connection with postage stamps and coinage may be described, I think, as the silent ambassadors on national taste.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)