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 best-known portraits of Erasmus; the latter by a web of connections arcing from beacon to beacon across the coin, evoking the countless academic and human exchanges among European students. Some of these connections form additional stars, born from the synergies between participating countries.

Fifth joint issue of the European Union. All 19 eurozone states issue a coin with the same design on varying dates. The coins differ only in the inscription, which appears in the respective national language.

Few European funding programmes have shaped the continent's academic landscape as lastingly as Erasmus. Since its launch in 1987, it has enabled millions of students to complete part of their studies at a university in another EU member state — expanding not only language skills and expertise, but also giving them a lived experience of Europe as a reality. Named after the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, who himself taught and researched at various European educational institutions in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the programme's name stands for cross-border knowledge exchange and intellectual openness. Erasmus of Rotterdam is still regarded today as one of the most influential scholars of the Renaissance, whose work extended from Leuven to Basel and Cambridge.

Luxembourg holds a special place within the European higher education area: the University of Luxembourg is the only fully trilingual university in Europe and maintains intensive cooperation with partner universities throughout the EU — with Erasmus a central instrument in this. As a founding member of the European Community and home to several EU institutions, the Grand Duchy is closely interwoven with the European integration project that Erasmus programmatically accompanies. In 2022, all euro states jointly marked the programme's 35th anniversary with a common issue, one that, since 2014, has also expanded under the name Erasmus+ to include vocational training, youth work and sport.