Today, State of Secretary of Culture and Media, performed the first strike of the commemorative coin in honor of Piet Mondriaan. The ceremonial first strike took place in the Mondriaanhuis in Amersfoort. Paul Baltus, director of the Mondriaanhuis, designer of the coin Marjolein Rothman and Mintmaster Bert van Ravenswaaij were also present. The Piet Mondriaan 5 Euro Coin is commissioned by the Ministry of Finance. The coin is directly available on the website.
The Mondriaanhuis is in the historic center of the city Amersfoort and is also the place where artist Piet Mondriaan was born. Here he spend the first years of his life. This was also the location where State of Secretary Gunay Uslu, performed the handstrike of the first issue of the Piet Mondriaan 5 Euro Coin.Piet Mondriaan
Piet Mondriaan was chosen as subject for a commemorative coin because his work still inspires many people. The characteristic line play and use of black lines make his work recognizable for everyone. Mondriaan starts with painting landscapes and portraits, but also begins to search for the common core in science, philosophy and religion. His developed interest in geometric shapes begins to change to the abstract. Mondriaan’s search for harmony and ‘absolute’ beauty changes him to be the pioneer of abstract art and with that, also to one of the most well-known artists in the Netherlands.
Design and mintage
The Piet Mondriaan 5 Euro Coin was designed by artist Marjolein Rothman. Rothman was inspired by the basic principle in Mondriaan’s work: the horizontal and vertical movement. The artist started to look for the elementary translation of Mondriaan’s vision. The obverse shows the portrait of King Willem-Alexander. The lines ‘Koning der Nederlanden (King of the Netherlands) and ‘Willem-Alexander’ are positioned as a horizontal and vertical line, a reference to the characteristic Mondriaan line play. The reverse also contains both horizontal and vertical lines. The Piet Mondriaan 5 Euro Coin has a mintage of 50.000 pieces and has a nomimal worth of 5 euro. Collectors can count on special collector’s items, minted in Silver and Cold. The Piet Mondriaan commemorative coins are available on www.royaldutchmint.com/pietmondriaan.