The Central Bank of Cyprus has launched a competition for the selection of the national sides of euro circulation coins which will be issued with the introduction of the euro in Cyprus.
Proposals for the three thematic designs should be submitted, each of which will constitute the national side of each group of denominations of euro coins, as follows:
Small denominations: 1 cent, 2 cent, 5 cent
Middle denominations: 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent
High denominations: 1 euro, 2 euro
Three design themes have been chosen which reflect the special character of Cyprus in the sphere of culture, nature and the sea. The three design themes are as follows:
*Culture: “Idle from Pomos”. This is a cross-shaped idle (picrolite) from the village of Pomos and dates back to the halcolithic period (3000 BC). It is a characteristic sample of the prehistoric art of Cyprus.
The design should represent, to the greatest possible extent, the actual image of the idle, as it stands today.
A picture of the idle is provided for guidance. Artists may inspect the idle at the Archaeological Museum of Cyprus.
*Nature: The “Mouflon”. This is the most characteristic species of Cyprus. Nine sheets containing pictures of the mouflon are provided for guidance.
Sea: The “Ship of Kyrenia”. The ship projects the importance of Cyprus in trade and its relations with the Aegean and the sea. The design should express the importance of the sea and shipping in the history of Cyprus, through time.
Four pictures of the Kyrenia ship are provided for guidance. It should be noted that neither the emblem on the sail nor the dolphin representation on the prow should be depicted in the design.
It is clarified that the pictures provided for the three themes are indicative only. Artists may draw ideas from other sources as well. The designs should reflect the nature, culture and the special character of the country.
Designs that are already depicted on other issues of coins or banknotes of Cyprus should be avoided.
The designs should have a round shape of 15 cm diameter. Each composition should bear twelve stars surrounding the design and the year mark, which for the purposes of the competition will be 2007. Each design must also be submitted in the actual size of each of the following euro coins.
1 cent: 16.25 mm, 20 cent: 22.25 mm, 1 euro 23.25 mm
During the stage of evaluation of the proposals, the Central Bank of Cyprus may request the submission of the designs in the actual size of all eight denominations of euro coins.
Each artist is expected to submit a proposal for each of the three themes. The selection will be made for all three thematic designs as a whole. It should be noted that if a proposal does not cover all the three thematic designs, it will not be considered. Each artist may participate in the competition with more than one sets of proposals.
A prize of CYP 5,000 will be awarded to the artist whose designs will be selected. It should be noted that the prize is awarded to natural persons only.
The selected designs will become the property of the Central Bank of Cyprus and the submitting artist will have no right to lay any other claims to the Central Bank for any purpose.
The selected designs will be communicated to the European Commission for comments. The artists participating in the competition should be ready to proceed with any amendments on their designs that may be required by the European Commission or the Central Bank of Cyprus.
The designs should be original, they should not have been used before by anybody, for any purpose and they should not constitute a variation of any other design. The Central Bank will request the artist whose designs have been selected to sign a statement through which he will be certifying the above and will be undertaking all relevant commitments.
Participations in the competition should be submitted in a sealed envelope marked “PARTICIPATION IN THE DESIGN COMPETITION”, to be sent by post to the Central Bank of Cyprus, 80, Kennedy Avenue, 1076 Nicosia or P.O.Box 25529, 1395 Nicosia. Alternatively, the envelope could be deposited in the tender box of the Central Bank of Cyprus.
Each participation envelope should contain two enclosed envelopes as follows:
One envelope marked “Design proposal” containing the proposed designs. It should not contain any element of identification of the artist (name, signature, etc.) either on the designs or anywhere else.
The second envelope marked “Artist’s details” should be sealed and contain the name, address and telephone of the artist.
The envelope containing the artist’s details will be opened after the Central Bank’s decision on the selection of designs.
Participations in the competition should be submitted in time to be received by the Central Bank by 14:30 p.m. on Friday, 14 October, 2005.
The Central Bank is not obliged to accept or approve any designs or to award a pecuniary prize, if it considers that none of the submitted designs are suitable for the purpose.
Clarifications on the above may be obtained from the Issue Section of the Central Bank of Cyprus, tel: 22714158.
