From Children with Solidarity – Love

Two hands forming a heart, within which the Maltese flag can be seen. Below it, the inscription “MALTA 2016”. To the left and right, at the wrists, two stylised human figures are shown on each side.

This 2-euro commemorative coin exists in two varieties. The 2-euro commemorative coins in the ST coin set were struck at the French mint in Pessac and therefore carry that mint's mark and that of mint master Yves Sampo (MT-16 G5). The other coins carry no mintmark (MT-16 G4).

Solidarity as a lived value has deep social roots in Malta. Despite covering an area of only about 316 square kilometres, the Mediterranean island state is known for a pronounced sense of community, expressed in family structures, religious traditions and social networks. This cohesion has shaped Maltese everyday life for centuries and can be found in local festivals, neighbourly solidarity and the deeply rooted sense of family among the roughly 500,000 inhabitants. Internationally, Malta has been embedded in European solidarity mechanisms through its EU membership since 2004 and is engaged in migration policy as a border state of southern Europe under particular pressure.

The motif of this issue comes from the series "By Children with Solidarity", through which Malta has, since 2016, placed fundamental social values at the centre of attention. The series consistently adopts the perspective of children as a symbol of openness, empathy and unaffected humanity. Love, as the first value in the series, does not stand for sentimental feeling but for the willingness to connect across all differences - an attitude of particular relevance in a small, densely populated and culturally layered society like Malta. The Maltese flag in the design explicitly links this universal value to the country's national identity.