A portrait of Miguel de Cervantes, accompanied with his name and a quill, is encircled by the country name, the logo of the Royal Spanish Mint (crowned letter M), date and the twelve stars of Europe of whom five are bound by a band.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616), was a Spanish writer who is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. His major work, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.

Engraver: Begoña Castellanos García

A geographical map of Western Europe spans the outer ring and inner core on the left side of the coin.

12 stars are located on the left 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 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 “0” in “10.”