The election of the Italian 10-euro silver commemorative coin “70 years of peace in Europe” as the coin of the year 2017, which was reported in issue 04/2017 of the magazine “Münzen & Sammeln” (“Coins & Collecting”), is also a political statement. A summary of the article can be found here.
On the Coin of the Year, you can see the detail of a fresco of Ambrogio Lorenzetti from the 14th century. Next to the splendid goddess Europa, the olive twig as well as a dove symbolize the struggle for peace. With an edition of only 5,000 pieces, it was produced in finest proof quality in 2015 and is very popular with collectors.
In addition to Italy, China was the focus of the award ceremony: The engraver Yu Min from the Shanghai Mint received an honorary lifetime award for his work. Yu is considered to be the father of the Panda coin series, which was already founded in 1982. The panda motifs of the year 2005, 2006, 2008 to 2010, as well as 2012 and 2013, were created by Yu. No other coin engraver has designed so many Panda coins. Yu Min is also responsible for the design of the coin fair pandas in honor of the World Money Fair 2016 and 2017, which were sold out in record time. The price for the coin designer’s work was received by representatives of the Chinese Embassy, but the trophy has since then arrived in Shanghai.
Michael Chou, the owner of “Champion”auction house based in Hongkong and Macau, gave a laudation speech in the honor of Yu Min. The passionate coin collector and entrepreneur from the former Portuguese colony and current Chinese special administrative district Macau emphasized the importance of the commitment of Yu Min. He has made an important contribution to the German-Chinese friendship and established the Panda as a sign of Chinese culture in Germany, says Michael Chou, who coordinates the production of the Panda medals in the background with his company “Champion Auction”.