Coin Profile: Traveler, There is a Coin
Antonio Machado stars on new commemorative coin.,
In honor of the sesquicentennial anniversary of Spanish poet Antonio Machado's birth, the Real Casa de Moneda issued a commemorative 10-euro coin on July 20, 2025. The coin is sterling silver, .925 fine, measures 40 millimeters in diameter, and weighs 27 grams. All 4,000 examples have a proof finish, and the edge is reeded. The coin was issued with a presentation case and certificate of authenticity.
The coin’s subject, Machado, is considered one of Spain’s foremost 20th-century poets. The writer was born in 1875 at his family’s estate, Palacio de las Dueñas, in Seville. He spent his formative years in Madrid, launching a writing career at the turn of the 20th century, and became a central member of the Generation of ‘98, a literary movement founded by Spanish poets active around the time of the Spanish-American War. He traveled to and studied in Paris, where he met many of the period’s notable poets and writers, and taught at schools in several cities around Spain.
Machado’s work evolved throughout his career. Like many of his Generation of ‘98 contemporaries, he wrote against the backdrop of the social and political upheaval that swept Spain as its empire declined in the waning years of the 19th century. Machado’s work reflected on spiritual and ethical themes, as well as the role and life of an artist. Spain’s landscape is also featured prominently in his poetry, as is its people. Machado, a supporter of the Spanish Republic, died in 1939 after contracting pneumonia while fleeing Nationalist forces at the end of the Spanish Civil War.
The new 10-euro coin’s design evokes major themes of Machado’s work. The design on the coin’s obverse depicts a colorized sprig of orange blossoms at 12 o’clock, and a reddish-green suitcase full of books next to a seascape, which fills the negative space of the “0” in the number “150” that runs behind the colorized design elements. “España,” the Spanish name for Spain, appears incuse vertically within the “1” character.
The seascape and orange blossoms reference the natural themes and Spanish landscape prominently featured in Machado’s writings. The suitcase of books evokes the writer’s literary standing and creative process.
On the reverse, the coin depicts a fedora-clad Machado wearing a suit and holding a cane. According to Numista, this portrait is based on a photograph taken by noted 20th-century Spanish photographer Alfonso Sánchez Portela in the 1930s. A quill pen, the writer’s signature, and denomination are placed at the left of Machado. The Casa de Moneda’s mint mark, a crowned “M”, is positioned at the right, with text celebrating the anniversary wrapping around the bottom right.
The Real Casa de Moneda’s press release sums the inspiration and intention of the design: “This issue seeks not only to celebrate his literary legacy but also to bring his figure closer to a wide audience through an object of artistic, historical, and numismatic value.”'
Visit the Real Casa de Moneda website for more information about the Real Casa de Moneda’s “Antonio Machado 150th Anniversary” silver coin.
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