Winning design for the commemorative coin for 35th anniversary of Erasmus programme

The Commission is pleased to announce the winning design of the public vote for a common commemorative €2 coin to celebrate 35 years of the Erasmus+ programme. The coin designed by Mr Joaquin Jimenez has been selected, having received over 22,000 votes. Euro area Member States are now invited to finalise the next steps in order to proceed to the minting and issuance scheduled for 1 July 2022. After more than 70 coin designs were submitted for this competition, a jury selected six coins to go forward for consideration in public vote which the Commission launched last month. Over 72,000 voted to select the design they believed best represented and celebrated the success of the Erasmus project. Erasmus+ is one of the EU’s most emblematic initiatives and a European success story. Since its inception in 1987, 10 million people have benefitted from it. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth said: “The Erasmus+ programme has been a life changing experience for generations of young people across and beyond the European Union. I am proud to commemorate its 35th anniversary with this beautiful coin, honouring both Erasmus himself and the numerous intellectual and human exchanges between past and present participants in the programme. I extend my warmest congratulations to the designer, Joaquin Jimenez, and look forward to many more decades of European exchange.” Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for Economy said: “Warm congratulations to the winner of our Erasmus+ coin design competition, Joaquin Jimenez of the Monnaie de Paris. For more than three decades, Erasmus+ has enabled young Europeans to study in another EU country, enriching their lives as well as their CVs. Erasmus+ and the euro are two of the most tangible symbols of European unity, so it’s very fitting that we celebrate the programme’s success with this special €2 coin.”