2008 AD., Spain, Juan Carlos I, Madrid mint, 20 Euro Cent, KM 1071.

Spain, Juan Carlos I, engravers: B. Castellanos Gracia (obverse) and Luc Luycx (reverse), Madrid mint, 2008 AD.,
20 Euro Cent (22,3 mm / 5,72 g), 5,74 g theor. mint weight, "Nordic gold" alloy (89% copper, 5% aluminium, 5% zinc, and 1% tin), mintage 102.300.000 , medal alignment ↑↑ (0°) , smooth edge with seven indentations ("Spanish flower"), 1st type, 2nd map,
Obv.: ESPAÑA / Cervantes / M / 2008 , head of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra facing half left (as painted by Juan de Jáuregui), encircled by the twelve stars of Europe, crowned M to l.,
Rev.: 20 / EURO / CENT // LL , map of Europe with 12 stars and lines to l., big value number above denomination to r., engraver´s initial at the r. edge.
KM 1071 .

Year / Mint Mark / Mintage
2007 M 46,500,000
2008 M 102,300,000
2009 M 75,327,500

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 September 1547 – 22 April 1616) was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written. His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). He was dubbed El Príncipe de los Ingenios ("The Prince of Wits").
In 1569, Cervantes moved to Rome, where he served as a valet to Giulio Acquaviva, a wealthy priest who was elevated to cardinal the next year. By then, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued his military life until 1575, when he was captured by Algerian corsairs. After five years of slavery he was released on ransom from his captors by his parents and the Trinitarians, a Catholic religious order. He subsequently returned to his family in Madrid.
In 1585, Cervantes published a pastoral novel named La Galatea. Because of financial problems, Cervantes worked as a purveyor for the Spanish Armada, and later as a tax collector. In 1597, discrepancies in his accounts of three years previous landed him in the Crown Jail of Seville. In 1605, he was in Valladolid, just when the immediate success of the first part of his Don Quixote, published in Madrid, signaled his return to the literary world. In 1607, he settled in Madrid, where he lived and worked until his death.