For more than 40 years, the UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) lists the sites that are part of the “world heritage cultural property sites”. Since 2007, Monnaie de Paris honours various monuments included in this list in a series of collector coins.
From 2019, this thematic is expanding all over the world.
In 2022,Monnaie de Paris pays tribute to the West Lake, a famous lake located in the historic center of Hangzhou City in China.
Hangzhou West Lake Landscape Park was proclaimed a national park on November 8, 1982 and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011.
The obverse represents a view of West Lake featuring the emblematic pagodas and bridges as well as the local vegetation in an artistic way highlighting the rich heritage of this place.
The name in Chinese as well as the year and the initials RF are inscribed in the design with a Chinese typography.
The reverse is common to all the coins in the UNESCO series. It represents the globe with parallels and meridians on the left and the inscriptions of major sites classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the right. These inscriptions are as if engraved in the stone, which echoes the Rosetta Stone. The left side of the globe is surrounded by the UNESCO logo and the "World Heritage" marking. The face value is inscribed on the left side of the globe, matching perfectly with parallels and meridians.
