Results of the public competition for the design of the national side of a €2 commemorative coin marking Slovakia's first presidency of the Council of the European Union

First prize (design selected for the coin)
akad. mal. Vladimír Pavlica

Second prize
akad. mal. Vladimír Pavlica

In the second half of 2016 (from 1 July to 31 December), Slovakia will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. This will be the first time that Slovakia has held the presidency, and to mark this historic occasion, Národná banka Slovenska plans to issue a €2 commemorative coin. In April 2015 the bank announced a public competition for the design of the national side of this coin.

A total of 24 designs by 13 designers were entered in the competition. In June 2015 the designs were evaluated anonymously by the Committee for the Assessment of Commemorative and Collector Coin Designs. The Committee was assisted in this task by expert advisors: Elena Mallicková and Ondrej Gažovič from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.

A design by Vladimír Pavlica won first prize, and on the Committee’s recommendation, the NBS Bank Board approved his design for the coin. The Committee praised the design for its clear composition and artistry, and for best capturing the theme of Slovakia’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. This idea is expressed through a central circular pattern of radial curved segments. Prominent within this element is a finely drawn Slovak coat of arms, symbolising the significant position of the country at the time of its presidency.

Second prize was awarded to another design by Vladimír Pavlica. This was a well-elaborated design that exhibited similar high-quality artwork to that seen in his winning entry. It was, however, less clean-cut owing to the presence of lime leaf motifs that had a somewhat cluttering effect, especially given the small diameter of the coin’s inner ring.

No third prize was awarded.