Spread the #CoinsofHope on www.coinsofhope.eu 

The International Day of Missing Children

On May 25, 1979, six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared without trace in New York. Exactly four years later, the Day of the Missing Children was launched in the United States. In 1998 it spread around the world to become an international day with dozens of countries participating. It a day of hope and solidarity for all missing children and their loved ones, wherever they are in the world. This year, the International Day of Missing Children will be organised in Belgium for the 15th time – and it has led to an exceptional initiative.

For the first time anywhere in the world, a missing child will be depicted on a regular coin.

On May 25, the Royal Mint in Brussels struck a special coin. The €2 coin will depict the face of a missing child: Liam Vanden Branden, who disappeared 20 years ago this month when he was just two years old. As the youngest child that remains missing in Belgium, he is a symbol for all missing children.

Social media campaign

The coins are also circulating on social media. Child Focus has invited the general public to post pictures (on Twitter, Instagram, …) with the hashtag #CoinsofHope each time the coins change hands. The campaign site (www.coinsofhope.be) will display the locations of these changeovers, showing how the currency spreads throughout Belgium and Europe.

Even if you can’t get your hands on the real currency, it is still possible to share: a special tool on the campaign website lets you change any photo containing a coin into a photo with a Coin of Hope.

Where can you find the Coins of Hope?

The one million Coins of Hope are being used as a normal means of payment, with the initial distribution happening mostly via the large supermarket chains in Belgium. If you are impatient to own your own Coin of Hope, the coins can be purchased via the Belgian Royal Mint webshop for a small additional charge: http://2200600.mijnwinkel.nl/webshop/.