Cyprus 2 cents 1983 - Confronted Goats

The coin's story

In 1983, Cyprus abandoned the mils: the Cyprus pound was now divided into 100 cents, and a new series of coins was put into circulation. The 2 cents coin bears on the reverse two goats arranged heraldically, taken from a shallow bowl of the mid-13th century BC. The obverse, engraved by Clara Georgiou, shows the arms of the Republic, a dove holding an olive branch with the year of independence 1960, and the name of the country in English, Greek and Turkish. This first type, struck only in 1983, can be recognised by its numeral 2 drawn with a single line: from 1985 onwards, the numeral is drawn with a double line. The Royal Mint struck 12,000,000 pieces, plus 6,250 proofs. The 2 cents coin remained in use until Cyprus changed over to the euro in 2008.