The Europa Coin Programme issues collector coins in precious metals to celebrate European identity, and ‘The Ages of Europe’ series reflects some of the most important European artistic movements. One of them is undoubtedly Gothic, a style that prevailed during the High and Late Middle Ages and is dominantly characterised by vaults and ogive arches as well as stained glass windows. Gothic was the artistic movement chosen to conclude the The Ages of Europe series.
The Portuguese contribution to this programme, which we were honoured to design, features the ogive, giving prominence to one of the most defining elements of the style. The silver proof version of the Portuguese Gothic coin is the result of an innovative process developed by Casa da Moeda in partnership with the Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the Higher Technical Institute. This process allows two distinct materials — metal and polymer — to be combined during the minting process.
