Tintin on silver euro coin

9 January 2004

BRUSSELS – Belgium will be celebrating Tintin’s 75th birthday by minting a special edition EUR 10 silver coin this month, elevating the cartoon reporter and his dog Snowy into the same league as Mozart and the Pope.

The coin, which will show Tintin and Snowy on one side and a map of Europe on the other, will be sold for EUR 31. Only a few notables have been honoured by special-edition Euros since the launch of the common currency.

A total of 50,000 coins will be minted, demand for which has already been high from fans of one of Belgium’s most famous exports.

Tintin first appeared in the Vingtieme Sciecle newspaper in 1929. Since then, Herge’s cartoon character has animated the pages of 23 comic books, translated into 50 languages.

A small ceremony was held at the Royal Mint to mark the minting of the first Tintin commemorative coin on Thursday.

The coins will be legal tender in Belgium only, and available from next month onwards.

Commemorative coins are issued each year by the Royal Mint, other figures which have been honoured in such a way include Maigret’s creator Georges Simenon.

Subject: Belgian news