The National Bank of Belarus on July 26th, 2013 issued into circulation new silver and gold commemorative coins “The Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Iveron" from "Orthodox Wonder–working Icons" coin series.

Gold coin face value 50 roubles, purity 999, weight 5 g.
Coin is rectangular, 14.00 x 23.50 mm, the edge is reeded.
Quality of coins is “proof”. Mintage of coin is up to 5.000 pcs

Gold coin face value 1.000 roubles, purity 999, weight 100 g.
Coin is rectangular, 36.00 x 53.00 mm, the edge is reeded.
Quality of coins is “proof”. Mintage of coin is up to 250 pcs

Silver coin face value 500 roubles, purity 925, weight 500 g.
Coin is rectangular, 90.00 x 135.00 mm, the edge is reeded.
Quality of coins is “proof”. Mintage of coin is up to 600 pcs

Coins are minted at the B.H. Mayer’s Kunstprageanstalt GmbH, Karlsfeld (Germany).

The coin is a legal tender of Belarus for all debts, public and private without any restriction.

The Panagia Portaitissa (Παναγία Πορταΐτισσα, Greek for "Keeper of the Gate") or the Iveron Theotokos is an Eastern Orthodox icon of Virgin Mary which was painted by Luke the Evangelist, according to the Sacred Tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The icon is referred to as "Wonderworking" meaning that numerous miracles have been attributed to the intercession of the Theotokos (Mother of God) by persons praying before it. The original of this image is found in the Georgian Iviron monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, where it is believed to have been since the year 999. The synaxis (feast day) for this icon is on February 12, as well as on Bright Tuesday, and also on October 13 for the translation to Moscow of the Iveron icon.

The icon belongs to a family of images of the Theotokos known as Hodegetria (Greek: Όδηγήτρια, "she who shows the way") after the prototype from Constantinople. In these icons, the Christ Child sits on his mother's left arm and she is depicted pointing to Christ with her right hand. Another famous icon based upon Hodegetria is Our Lady of Częstochowa.

A unique characteristic of this icon is what appears to be a scar on the Virgin Mary's right cheek or her chin. A number of different traditions exist to explain this, but the one most commonly held by Orthodox Christians is that the icon was stabbed by a soldier in Nicaea during the period of Byzantine iconoclasm under the Emperor Theophilus (829–842). According to tradition, when the icon was stabbed, blood miraculously flowed out of the wound.

The original in Iveron is encased in a chased riza of silver and gold covering almost all the image except the face, as is common with the most venerated icons.

Source of information: National Bank of the Republic of Belarus www.nbrb.by