2 euros BELGIUM 2023 - 75 years of universal women's suffrage

2 euros BELGIUM 2023 - 75 years of universal women's suffrage

Description
Following the 2 euro coin issued in 2011 as part of International Women's Day, the Royal Mint of Belgium is now issuing a unique 2 euro coin to celebrate 75 years of universal women's suffrage in Belgium.

1831: All Belgians are equal before the law... Or are they?
In 1831, the newborn Belgium adopted a constitution considered very progressive at the time. Only women are completely ignored there! For the National Congress it was enough to return to the ideas of the famous Napoleonic Code, which equated women with minor children and the insane. This is what we call sexist discrimination!

1850-1900: Feminist movements make their entry...
During the second half of the 19th century we witnessed the first women's emancipation movements in Belgium. Equal educational opportunities, especially for girls, as well as equal civil rights between men and women will occupy a priority place on the feminist agenda of the time. By uniting and organizing properly, Belgian women managed to claim certain economic and civil rights that were appreciable on the eve of the First World War. However, they were still far from being on the same level as men.

1920: A very typical “Belgian compromise”…
It is above all in the political sphere where everything still remains to be done. After 1918, the universal right to vote became the guiding principle of the feminist movement. Despite all the efforts and intense lobbying, the program for universal women's suffrage could only be partially realized. Certainly, on May 3, 1920, the right of women to vote in municipal and provincial elections had been won and female candidates could run for public office. But to access the parliamentary elections we had to wait another 3 years... after the end of the Second World War!

1948: Belgian women finally obtain universal suffrage!
After liberation, women's right to vote was no longer questioned. New times are approaching and objections are becoming rarer. On March 27, 1948, universal women's suffrage became a legal reality in Belgium. Since then, Belgian women have continued to strengthen their position, although there is still much work to be done to ensure that the gender balance is perfectly balanced.

A 2 euro coin intended for women and created by a woman!
To properly celebrate the 75th anniversary of universal women's suffrage, the Royal Mint of Belgium has just issued a particularly original 2 euro coin, which perfectly reflects the female quest for gender equality.

On the obverse the symbol of Venus appears in the form of an urn filled with a pencil and surrounded by the bilingual legend “UNIVERSAL WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE – ALGEMEEN VROUWENKIESRECHT”. To the left of the box appears the inscription “75 JAAR/ANS” and to the right the toponym BE, the year 2023 as well as the mint mark (mercury bar) and the different (an Erlenmeyer flask with an aster). At the bottom of the Venus sign, you will discover the initials.
“IB” by IRIS BRUIJNS: since last year, our new designer... feminine (yes!).