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At a festive ceremony on Friday, the Vicenza Numismatica organization presented the awards for the annual “Vicenza Palladio” competition for commemorative coins to the winning countries.
The ceremony was held as part of the international coin exhibition that is held every year in Vicenza, Italy. A special prize was awarded to the Bank of Israel for the NIS 2 “Tel Megiddo” coin, which was selected as the most beautiful architectural representation on a commemorative coin for 2012.
The Chairman of the judging panel singled out for praise the simple, clean, and sharp design of the coin, and added that these qualities are regular features of Israel’s commemorative coins. This is Israel’s second win at this competition. In 2011, the “Gymnastics” coin issued in honor of the London Olympics won first place in the competition.
Accepting the award on behalf of the Bank of Israel was the Head of the Currency Department, Mr. Mordechai Fein, who spoke about the history of Tel Megiddo, and the advanced water system developed there 3,000 years ago, in the days of King Solomon. Fein thanked the panel of judges for the selection and for their praise of Israel’s commemorative coins, and commended the coin’s artist, Osnat Eshel, for her excellent work.