35 Years of the Erasmus Programme

A blend of two defining elements of the Erasmus programme: its original intellectual inspiration — Erasmus himself — and an allegory of his influence on Europe. The former is represented by one of the most familiar portraits of Erasmus; the latter by a web of connections crossing the coin face from beacon to beacon, evoking the countless intellectual and human exchanges among European students. Within the European context, some of those connections form additional stars, born of the synergies between countries.

Fifth joint issue of the European Union. All 19 euro-area states are issuing a coin with the same design on varying dates. The coins differ only in the inscription, which appears in each country's national language.

In the autumn of 1987, the European Community launched an exchange programme that would permanently change the continent's academic world. Named after the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, who travelled and taught between Europe's universities in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the programme created a structured framework for cross-border study. What began as a pilot project with a few hundred students grew over the decades into one of the EU's best-known education programmes. Erasmus himself is seen as the embodiment of the European scholarly ideal: multilingual, institutionally independent, in dialogue with thinkers from many countries. His work — including the satirical "In Praise of Folly" — was not created in one fixed place, but within a network of European printing houses, patrons and universities.

Ireland has been among the participating countries since the programme began and traditionally records high numbers of Irish students going abroad, as well as a notable influx of Erasmus students to Irish universities — particularly in Dublin, Cork and Galway. Ireland's English-language education landscape makes the country a sought-after destination within the Erasmus network for students from across the euro area. To mark the Erasmus programme's 35th anniversary in 2022, all euro states took part in a joint European issue, including Ireland with its national design for this 2-euro commemorative coin.