Ireland's first gold euro coin has been minted to celebrate the centenary of the birth of playwright Samuel Beckett, who is portrayed on the limited edition currency.
Around 20,000 units of €20 euro gold coins and 35,000 of €10 silver coins will also depict a scene from the writer's most famous play, Waiting for Godot.
"Beckett's face endeavours to capture his distinct dramatic pose," the head of the Irish central bank John Hurley said in a statement on Wednesday (26 April).
"Equally dramatic is the depiction on the coins of his most famous work 'Waiting for Godot'. The haunting quality of the two figures under the tree is echoed in Beckett's portrait."
"I have no doubt that both of these beautiful Beckett coins will be very popular with the public," he added.
The coins were designed by Emmet Mullins who won a national competition held in 2005 and will be on sale from next Tuesday.
The €10 silver coin will cost €32 and the €20 gold coin will be sold for €50.
The collectors edition was launched as part of a month-long celebration planned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Samuel Beckett.
The artist was born in Dublin's south side suburb of Foxrock on 13 April 1906 and died in Paris in 1989, where he is buried in Montparnasse cemetery.
He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969.
The Beckett coin is the fourth euro collector coin that the Irish central bank has issued.
In 2003, a coin was stamped to mark the special Olympics in Ireland.
In 2004 a coin marked the accession of ten new countries to the EU and last year a €10 silver coin was minted to mark the bi-centenary of the birth of mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton.
All the coins have sold out.
Commemorative euro coins are normally not legal tender in all of the eurozone, but only in the country where they were issued.
In 2004 the European Commission allowed the annual minting of one commemorative €2 coin in each of the 25 member states, subject to restrictions on design and amount of coins issued.
Greece was the first country to issue one of the special €2 euro coins, which are legal tender throughout the eurozone.
