Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 2 Euro 2017, KM# 289, Greece, 60th Anniversary of Death of Nikos Kazantzakis
  • 2 Euro 2017, KM# 289, Greece, 60th Anniversary of Death of Nikos Kazantzakis
Description

Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) was a Greek writer. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years.

Kazantzakis' novels included Zorba the Greek (published 1946 as Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas), Christ Recrucified (1948), Captain Michalis (1950, translated 'Freedom or Death), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1955). He also wrote plays, travel books, memoirs and philosophical essays such as The Saviors of God: Spiritual Exercises. His fame spread in the English-speaking world due to cinematic adaptations of Zorba the Greek (1964) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).

Obverse

Depicts a portrait of Nikos Kazantzakis with the country of issue, date and his name on the left. The twelve stars of the European Union surround the design on the outer ring.

Mintmark: Stylized acanthus leaf, Athens

Engraver: Georgios Stamatopoulos (monogram ΣΤΑΜ)

ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ 2017
NIKOΣ KAZANTZAKHΣ
ΣΤΑΜ

Reverse

A geographical map of Western Europe spans the outer ring and inner core on the right side of the coin. The inscription 2 EURO is superimposed over the map of Europe, with the numeral “2” located in an open field representing the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

12 stars are located on the right side of the outer ring, with six stars atop the map of Europe and six stars below it; six vertical stripes cut across the inner core of the coin, visually connecting the upper and lower star segments.

Luc Luycx, a designer at the Royal Belgian Mint, designed the Euro’s common reverse; his initials, LL, are seen on the right side of the design, just under the “O” in “EURO.”

2 EURO
LL

Edge

HELLENIC REPUBLIC in Greek

ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ ★

2 Euro

60th Anniversary of Death of Nikos Kazantzakis

KM# 289
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Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Bi-Metallic
Ring Cupronickel
Center Nickel Brass
Weight 8.5 g
Diameter 25.75 mm
Thickness 2.2 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Bank of Greece

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