100 Years of the Republic of Estonia

The design shows the official anniversary logo marking the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, in which both the number “18” and the number “100” can be artistically made out. The “1” and the lower “0” are formed from a multitude of rising birds, symbolising doves of peace that represent the country's independence and freedom. In the lower right is the inscription “SADA AASTAT EESTI VABARIIKI”, followed by the issuing country “EESTI” and the year of issue “2018”. The outer ring of the coin bears the twelve stars of the European Union.

On 24 February 1918, Estonia declared its independence — at a moment when the Russian Empire was collapsing and Germany still stood shortly before the armistice. The Estonian Republic was thus one of the first states to emerge from the collapse of the tsarist empire. The following years were shaped by the War of Independence against Soviet Russian and Baltic German forces, which ended only in 1920 with the Peace of Tartu. During the interwar period, Estonia developed an independent democracy, a national cultural policy, and an economically stable society — before the Soviet occupation of 1940, followed by the German occupation, tore the country from its state continuity for decades.

The restoration of the Republic of Estonia in 1991, recognized by Western states as a continuation of the state founded in 1918, remains the foundation of Estonian self-understanding to this day. Estonia understood its independence not as a new founding but as a restoration — a legal continuity visible, for example, in the retention of the 1938 constitution as the starting point for the new constitution of 1992. Accession to the European Union and NATO in 2004, as well as the introduction of the euro in 2011, marked the country's complete integration into the West. With its 2-euro commemorative coin, Estonia commemorates in 2018 the 100th anniversary of the declaration of independence — a date that holds a central place in Estonian national consciousness.