"This coin reminds people that freedom is the highest value and it comes at a very high price," Bank of Estonia Governor Madis Müller said according to a press release regarding Tuesday's issue.

He said that the central bank had decided quickly on releasing the €2 coin this year primarily to provide financial support to its counterpart in Ukraine, allowing them to direct the financial assistance where it was most needed themselves.

"Ukraine is currently fighting a war at the cost of the lives of its own people for the shared values of the European cultural space, and it is up to us to keep supporting them in this," Müller stressed.

The specially dedicated coin was designed by Daria Titova, a Ukrainian refugee from Kharkiv studying at the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA), and features the image of a girl protecting a bird in her hand and an ear of wheat accompanied by the words "Slava Ukraini."

The accompanying coin card was designed by Estonian artist Vladimir Taiger.

Preliminary work for the issue of the €2 coin with the special design dedicated to Ukraine began in April. The process typically takes around 18 months to complete, but as the central bank worked on preparations to produce the coin card and the €2 coin in parallel, the coin card for Ukraine was ready for issue in less than four months.

Coin card proceeds going to Ukraine

The Bank of Estonia is transferring all revenue generated from the sale of the coin card — minus VAT and the cost of sales channels — to the National Bank of Ukraine.

Opting to issue the coin card sooner in order to be able to send proceeds to Ukraine as soon as possible, the central bank released a total of 40,000 coin cards for sale in early July already, at a price of €18 each.

The Bank of Estonia transferred its first batch of proceeds — totaling more than €350,000 — to Ukraine on August 24, in honor of Ukrainian Independence Day; at the time, more than 25,000 Ukraine coin cards had already been sold.

The €2 Ukraine coins will now be available as change from stores throughout Estonia, but can also be bought individually or in rolls of 25 at the Bank of Estonia Museum store in Tallinn as well as from Omniva's online store.

The coin card, featuring a €2 coin in Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) finish, is likewise still available for purchase at both the central bank's museum store as well as via Omniva.

As of Tuesday, approximately 9,000 of the 40,000 originally released Ukraine coin cards remain.

Ukrainians need our help, their freedom is at stake. Help Ukraine and buy a coin card featuring a 2€ coin dedicated to Ukraine. Income from the sales will go to the Ukrainian central bank @NBUkraine_eng to support fight for freedom. Every euro counts! https://t.co/dQwGcpweWQ pic.twitter.com/By6wytuKXj

— Eesti Pank (@EestiPank) July 8, 2022

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