| Description : The coin, designed by Georgios Stamatopoulos, shows a
fighting Hoplite at the Battle of Marathon with a spear and an oversized shield, a protective weapon. This is intended to
symbolise the noble ideals of freedom and perseverance for which the Battle of Marathon stands, while the bird on the
shield is intended to symbolise the birth of Western civilisation. The conflict resulted from the attempt of the Persian
Great King Darius I to intervene in Athens with an expeditionary corps and bring about a change of rule. At the top,
the occasion for the issue "ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝΑΣ 2500 ΧΡΟΝΙΑ"
(Marathon 2500th Anniversary) is circular, and the dates "490 Π.Χ." (490 BC) and "2010 Η.Χ."
(2010 AD) are at the bottom right, the name of the issuing country "ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ
ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ" (Hellenic Republic) is shown at the bottom left. A palmette
the mint mark of the Greek mint
Νομισματοκοπειο / Nomismatokopeio
(Bank of Greece ‐ Mint) in Halandri is shown on the left, with the designer's initials "ΓΣ" below.
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