10 euro – The Violet

Description A delicate little flower with a strong character, the violet signifies faithfulness, loyalty and constancy in the language of flowers and has long been given as a token of love. Like all the coins in The Language of Flowers series, the final coin features an imprint of real flowers that captures violets in their natural state and is faithful to the tiniest detail. With heart-shaped leaves and tiny, sweetly scented flowers that bloom from late winter to early spring, the violet is sometimes referred to as the ‘flower of modesty’ for the way its flowers hide coyly beneath the plant’s heart-shaped leaves. The association between the colour violet and the bluish-purple colour of the plant is thought to have developed in the late fourteenth century. Although most violets do come in shades of blue and purple, they can also be white and yellow, with each colour having a slightly different meaning in the language of flowers. Blue violets stand for love and faithfulness; purple violets mean ‘thinking of you’; white violets stand for innocence, purity and chastity; and yellow violets for high worth and goodness. Combined with the violet’s inherent delicacy, flavour and fragrance, its symbolism perhaps makes it the perfect flower to convey a love that is pure and passionate, yet also bashful and measured. But let violets speak for themselves. With them you say: ‘I stand by you, come what may.’ The obverse of The Violet coin features a scene of togetherness in which the faces of a young couple are turned towards each other, their eyes closed and their foreheads gently touching, and their hands are clasped together. Both are wearing flowers in their hair. The coin’s reverse shows three fully opened violets and a flower bud, behind them a band of stylised violets. None of the principal flower images in the series is based on a drawing or illustration. The starting point of every coin design is a real flower grown in the garden, which is then pressed using a special technique.