The silver collector coin dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the statesman Friedrich Karl Akel will use a design by Kristo Kooskora. The Eesti Pank Supervisory Board decided that his design, named Optika, was the best submitted.

The winning design shows a fragment from a portrait of the talented diplomat Friedrich Karl Akel and his signature against a background of a waving Estonian tricolour. The strictly regular design and images of the collector coin are a reference to Akel’s profession as an ophthalmologist, his position as head of the state, his personal qualities, and his wide network of contacts.

The winning designer Kristo Kooskora graduated from Tartu Art School and holds a Masters in Cultural Heritage and Conservation from the Estonian Academy of Arts. Alongside his everyday design work he is a researcher of architectural heritage and a supervisor in the Faculty of Arts and Culture of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

The silver coin with a nominal value of 15 euros is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Estonian statesman, politician, diplomat and doctor Friedrich Karl Akel, and will be released by the central bank in autumn 2021.

In total 23 designs were submitted for the competition. The winning design was by Kristo Kooskora, second place went to Tiiu Pirsko and Mati Veermets, and third to a design by Mall Nukke.

The programme of issuing commemorative and collector coins for 2020 and 2021 is published on the Eesti Pank website. https://www.eestipank.ee/en/notes-and-coins/confirmed-programme-issuing-collector-and-commemorative-coins

The collector coins issued by Eesti Pank can be seen on the Eesti Pank website.
https://www.eestipank.ee/en/notes-and-coins/collector-coins

Suggestions for minting collector and commemorative coins are welcome from everyone, and can be sent through the Eesti Pank website at https://www.eestipank.ee/en/ideas-collector-coins-and-commemorative-coins, by email or by post. Suggestions for coins to be minted in 2022 can be sent until the end of August this year. All the suggestions are considered by an advisory committee invited by Eesti Pank, and their expert opinions and recommendations are used as the basis for the Executive Board of Eesti Pank to decide which coins to mint.

Additional information:

Piret Luhakooder
Cash and Infrastructure Department
Tel: 668 0791
Email: [email protected]

Mart Siilivask
Tel: 668 0965
Mobile: 5697 9146
Email: [email protected]
Press enquiries: [email protected]