2-Euro Ticker: New 2-Euro Coins in August 2024
by Sebastian Wieschowski
Content
Malta issues a new series on fortified towns and on native species. Photo: Malta Coin Centre.
Malta: Ċittadella Gozo
The first coin in the new series highlighting Maltese cities with city walls is dedicated to Gozo’s Ċittadella. This historic fortress played an important role in the protection of the island. It was issued on 26 August with a mintage of 80,000 pieces in coin cards, struck by the Royal Dutch Mint. The coin was designed by Noel Galea Bason.
Malta issues a new series on fortified towns and on native species. Photo: Malta Coin Centre.
Malta: Maltese Honey Bee
The new Native Species series begins with a coin celebrating the Maltese honey bee, which plays a central role in Malta’s ecosystem. The coin was also released on 26 August in Brilliant Uncirculated quality in a coin card. The mintage figure amounts to 80,000 specimens. The design is by Maria Anna Frisone.
There is good news for collectors regarding the pricing of Maltese coin cards: all collectors who order directly from the Maltese issuing authority this year will receive their coin card at a price of 20 euros each – and completely free of shipping costs. Maltese coin cards will settle at a similar price range on the secondary market, so that Maltese coin cards trading at around €100 will become a thing of the past.
Outlook
In the next month, San Marino will start with the shipping of its new 2-euro coin card dedicated to the 530th anniversary of Ghirlandaio’s death. The issue has a mintage figure of 56,000 specimens.
On its way to the collectors: A new coin card from San Marino. Photo: DFN.
Finland will delight collectors with a new 2-euro coin dedicated to “Gesellius, Lindgren, Saarinen – Finnish Architecture”.
New 2-euro coin from Finland – as always with an experimental design and low mintage. Photo: Mint of Finland / Suomen Moneta.
And Slovakia is commemorating another event in the country’s history – the 100th anniversary of the International Košice Marathon. Mincovňa Kremnica has now published an authentic picture of the coin. Previously the mint had only made sketches available. The mintage figure will be one million pieces, 5,000 of which will be minted in proof quality.
Original photo of the new 2-euro coin from Slovakia and design photo of a new 2-euro coin from Cyprus. Photo: Mincovňa Kremnica / European Commission.
The country that has issued the lowest number of 2-euro commemorative coins to date provided a surprise in August – Cyprus will release a commemorative coin by the end of the year to mark the 20th anniversary of its accession to the European Union. Resourceful collectors have already found out about the coin design through a request to the European Commission.
On the decline? Market prices for top rarities from Monaco are falling. Photo: Wieschowski.
While the value of many 2-euro coins continues to rise, especially in proof quality, the prominent 2-euro commemorative coins from Monaco, of all issues, are trending in the opposite direction: the most expensive 2-euro coin of all, “Fortress on the Rock” from 2015, has meanwhile reached over 4,000 euros in online sales and can currently be purchased for as little as 2,200 euros. Similarly, the legendary Grace Kelly coin has never been available for less than 3,000 euros – the current price is around 2,500 euros. It remains to be seen whether the decline is due to the summer lull or whether the potential for appreciation of €2 rarities has been exhausted.
