Depicts a portrait of Alessandro Manzoni, inspired by the image of the Italian writer on the one hundred thousand lire banknote issued in 1967. The acronym of the Italian Republic (IR) on the left, the years of the writer's death and the issue of the coin below. Mintmark (R) on the right, the engraver's initials (AV) below. The outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Engraver: Antonio Vecchio

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.”

The sequence "2 ★" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted