2 euro SLOVAKIA (2009) 20^th Anniversary of Velvet Revolution

in the coin centre a bell composed of door keys; along the bottom edge: SLOVENSKO (Slovakia); along the top edge in two lines: 17. NOVEMBER SLOBODA DEMOKRACIA / 1989-2009 (17th of November freedom democracy 1989-2009); at the edge a ring of twelve five-pointed stars - symbol of the European Union

left from the centre face value 2, on the right inscription: EURO; in the background of the inscription a map of Europe; in the background of the map vertically six parallel lines ending on both sides with five-pointed stars (the reverse is common for all euro coins)

reeded with concave inscription:
SLOVENSKÁ REPUBLIKA (Slovak Republic and two five-pointed stars divided by a lime leaf)

17 XI 2009

still in circulation

Pavel Károly (monogram below the bell on the obverse), Luc Luycx (initials LL below letter 'O' in EURO on the reverse)

Mincovňa Kremnica (Kremnica Mint), Kremnica (mint mark below the bell on the obverse) 

2009

992 000

+ 8 000 in boxed coincards

The Velvet Revolution was the beginning of the end for the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. It begun on November 17, 1989 in Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, where the legal march in memory of a student murdered in 1939 changed spontaneously into an illegal march against the Czechoslovak communist authorities. The crowd reached the central square of the capital city (Václavské náměstí) and there people expressed their dissatisfaction by buzzing keys and ringing bells. The manifestation was brutally pacified, however, three days later, the protesters returned to the same place in much greater numbers. Marches and strikes in Czechoslovakia lasted ten days and they were actually the result of already successful revolutions in Poland, the German Democratic Republic and Hungary. The general strike on November 27, which was attended by 75% of citizens finally forced free elections in Czechoslovakia.