2 1/2 euros 100 ans de maillot jaune

Belgium has issued commemorative 2½-euro coins since 2013, a denomination that exists nowhere else in the eurozone — a deliberate workaround allowing member states to produce collector pieces without technically issuing legal-tender euro denominations outside the standard set. This coin marks the centenary of the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, introduced at the 1919 race, reportedly at the suggestion of Henri Desgrange, the race director, who chose yellow because L'Auto — the sponsoring newspaper — was printed on yellow paper.

The 1919 Tour was the first held after the four-year interruption of World War I.