200 years of Oesterreichische Nationalbank

Description (ECB)

The design depicts a carved relief with two gods from Roman mythology standing before the entrance to the main building of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB): to the left, Mercury, the messenger of the gods and the god of merchants and commerce; to the right, Fortuna, the goddess of fate and prosperity, who is portrayed with a horn of plenty. The background detail, running from the left to the right edges of the core, shows the OeNB’s main premises. An ornamental band skirting the bottom of the coin centre evokes the red-white-red pattern of the Austrian national flag, with hatched vertical lines symbolising the colour red, as laid down in the rules of heraldic design. The years ‘1816’ and ‘2016’ to the left of Mercury refer to the OeNB’s founding year and its bicentennial. The inscriptions running along the edges of the gold-coloured centre read ‘Republik Österreich’ (Republic of Austria) and ‘200 Jahre Oesterreichische Nationalbank’ (200 years of Oesterreichische Nationalbank). The coin’s outer ring bears the 12 stars of the European Union.

Source: European Central Bank, €2 commemorative coin pages. Texts quoted as published. ECB 2016

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