Estonia · 100 years of the Republic of Estonia

Issue date19 Feb 2018

Total mintage1,317,800

EU maximum1,317,800

Editions4

Edge letteringEESTI × 2, alternating upright/inverted, separated by dots

Inscription18 / 100 / SADA AASTAT EESTI VABARIIKI / EESTI / 2018

DesignerIonel Lehari, Meelis Opmann

mintUAB Lietuvos monetų kalykla, Vilnius (Lithuania)

Issue occasion

The coin commemorates the 100th anniversary of Estonia’s independence. The design combines the numbers 18 and 100, thus referring both to the year of independence and to the hundred years that have passed. At the bottom right are “SADA AASTAT EESTI VABARIIKI”, “EESTI” and “2018”.

The design

The motif features both the number 18 and the number 100. This symbolizes the time when Estonia became independent, while also reflecting the past hundred years. In the lower right, the text “SADA AASTAT EESTI VABARIIKI” can be seen, followed by the country’s name, “EESTI”, and the year of issue, “2018”.

The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the coin’s outer ring.

Background on the topic

Until 1917, the territory of Estonia belonged to the Russian Empire. After the February Revolution, tsarist rule collapsed, and Estonia received a unified autonomous administration. When the Bolsheviks later seized power and German troops advanced, Estonian politicians used the brief transitional period to proclaim an independent state.

The basis was the “Manifesto to All Peoples of Estonia” published by the Estonian Salvation Committee. It was publicly read in Pärnu on 23 February 1918. The following day, a provisional government was formed in Tallinn; for this reason, 24 February is celebrated as a national holiday. However, state independence could not initially be put into practice because German troops occupied the country.

After the end of the First World War, the provisional government assumed state power in November 1918. Shortly afterwards, the Estonian War of Independence against Soviet Russia began. In addition, fighting also took place in the south against military formations dominated by Baltic Germans. The war ended with the Treaty of Tartu of 2 February 1920. In it, Soviet Russia recognized Estonia as a sovereign state and renounced claims to its territory.

The first Estonian Republic existed until 1940. This was followed by the Soviet occupation and annexation, the German occupation during the Second World War, and the subsequent incorporation into the Soviet Union. From the standpoint of constitutional law, Estonia maintained its commitment to the continued existence of the republic founded in 1918. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the restoration of state independence was therefore declared in 1991, rather than the founding of a new state.

The anniversary thus represented both the establishment of the republic and the notion of its legal continuity throughout the occupation and the Soviet period. It formed part of a multi-year state anniversary program that also commemorated the political steps between autonomy, the founding of the state, and the conclusion of the Treaty of Tartu.