GREEK'S DESIGN CHOSEN FOR EUROPEAN UNION'S FLAG COIN

A new two-euro coin to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the European Union's flag will show a design by a Greek engraver. But the coin may last longer than Greece's membership in the euro zone.

Greek central bank engraver George Stamatopoulos on Thursday won a competition to design the logo of a commemorative two-euro coin. His proposal had been preselected by a jury alongside designs from Spain, Slovenia, Italy and Cyprus.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the EU flag, Stamatopoulos' entry depicts 12 people forming a human chain around that flag with the 12 gold stars on a blue background.

The design was chosen by 30 percent of 100,000 voters in an online competition by the European Commission.

Its Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said the coin celebrated a key moment of the adoption of the flag as the EU's official emblem.

About 75 million of the two-euro coins will circulate in eurozone nations, starting in July. But as Greece's new hard-left government keeps struggling to get another shot in the arm from its creditors, fears are growing the country may eventually drop out of the euro area.

The new two-euro coin would then become commemorative in one more way, economists quipped.

To read the complete article, see:
Greek engraver wins euro coin design competition (www.dw.de/greek-engraver-wins-euro-coin-design-competition/a-18481782)

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