2 Euros Luxembourg 2014: 175 Anniversary of the Independence

Once again, Luxembourg has minted a 2 Euros conmemorative coin with the face of the Grand Duke. This time, they celebrate the 175 Anniversary of the Independence of the Grand Duchy.

Location of Luxembourg in Europe

The coin is divided in three different parts: on the right we can see the Grand Duke Henri's profile; on the left, the independence's year (1839), the emission's year (2014) and the country's name (LËTZEBUERG, Luxembourg in Luxembourgish), besides the mint's symbols; on the bottom we can find the text ONOFHÄNGEGKEET 175 JOËR (Independence 175 Years). They made half-million coins that were released on 15th January 2014.

Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg,
thinking of a reason to mint another 
coin the next year

The United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created in 1815; it was formed by the actual Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. In 1830, Belgium began its independence process; after a 9-years war, its independance was finally recognized in the Treaty of London. In this map you can see the old kingdom's provinces and how they were splitted:

The splitting of the United Kingdom
of the Netherlands

The old Luxembourg province had two different linguistic regions: one where the main language was French and another one where people spoke Luxembourgish (a German dialect). This part is the one that maintained its own identity and nowadays is the Grand Duchy, the other one is part of Belgium. In 1839, Luxembourg got some independence, but it was still part of the Netherlands, because they both had the same king.

Treaty of London of 1839,
on the right you can see the division of the Luxembourg province

Luxembourg got the complete independence in 1890, when a woman got the crown of the Netherlands, but she was not allowed to reign in Luxembourg because of the Salic Law.

© Text and coin pictures copyright belongs to Daniel Grimoir