It is an immense pleasure for us at the Greek Mint (IETA) to once again be part of this annual reunion of our numismatic family, in spite of the serious difficulties caused by the pandemic.
IETA is the in-house printing works of the Bank of Greece and the National Mint, which performs various printing tasks for the Greek State and third parties, such as passports and lottery tickets, while it prints the bank’s official stationery, reports, and other publications. In the context of the euro area, it is one of the printing houses commissioned with the production of euro banknotes and coins, for which it conforms to the Eurosystem’s requirements for physical and IT security and protection against counterfeiting and forgery.
Across all of its business lines, IETA is committed to the highest standards of production, design, quality, and security, striving to maximise cost efficiency and minimise its environmental impact by making a deliberate and constant effort to ensure that our mint keeps abreast of technological developments and the most advanced production methods, thus remaining on par with our peers across the globe. Minting is perhaps IETA’s most widely known activity and a field in which it never ceases to excel and win international distinctions. IETA is particularly proud of its commemorative and collector coin series, which make up its annual Numismatic Programme.
The flagship of last year’s numismatic programme was the special commemorative coin series to mark 200 years since the Greek Revolution of 1821, produced by IETA on behalf of the ”Greece 2021” Committee. However, as the Greek Revolution spanned almost an entire decade, we will have the opportunity, over the next few years, to commemorate several upcoming bicentenaries of episodes of the heroic Greek uprising.
Thus, our numismatic programme for 2022 will feature three commemorations in relation to the Greek Revolution:
- silver coin dedicated to the 200 years from the Chios massacre, the tragic event immortalised by Eugène Delacroix;
- commemorative €2 coin to honour the bicentennial of the First Greek Constitution, adopted in January 1822 during the First National Assembly of the revolted Greeks; and
- silver coin dedicated to Lord Byron, the most iconic Philhellene, with which we launch our new series in tribute to the Philhellenic movement that did so much to advance the cause of Greek independence.
Two other themes feature prominently in our Numismatic Programme 2022:
• the fascinating Antikythera mechanism, in a new series launched this year, entitled Ancient Greek technology; and
• the 100 years from the Asia Minor Disaster, which led to the eradication of the Greek element from Asia Minor.
Our numismatic programme for 2022 will, of course, also include products in our popular long-standing series:
• Ares, god of war (in our “Olympian Gods” series);
• Xenophon, an Athenian historian and prolific writer of diverse works (in our “Greek Historians” series);
• the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, one of the best-preserved of antiquity (in our “Cultural Heritage” series);
• Paeonia Parnassica, a majestic endemic wildflower of mounts Parnassos and Elikonas in Central Greece (in our “Endemic Flora of Greece” series);
• 2022 — International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture, in keeping with our tradition of honouring UN-declared years; and
• the enchanting island of Chios (in our “Greek Tourism” series)
• Last but not least, a commemorative €2 coin is dedicated to the 35 years of the ”Erasmus” programme, an anniversary celebrated across the euro area.
To sum up, Greece’s rich numismatic tradition and our determination to maintain a hard-earned reputation, combined with state-of-the-art technologies, enable us to offer exciting new products, year after year, to international collectors.
Press release courtesy of the Bank of Greece and World Money Fair.
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