To celebrate the Winter Games, the Austrian Mint in Vienna has issued two silver 5 Euro coins. Each displays a winter discipline in which Austria is a world-leading performer.
Austrian 5 Euro Snow-Boarding and Ski-Jumping 2010 Winter Games Silver Coins
(Click coins image to enlarge)
The first has as its theme ski jumping. One sees the helmeted ski-jumper captured in his flight from the end of the steep ramp against a background of trees in an alpine forest. The second design shows a female snow-boarder as she performs a hair-raising air trick, flipping her snowboard up over the rim of the half-pipe in which they perform.
In Austria skiing is the King of Sports. Every winter not only Austrians but thousands upon thousands of skiing enthusiasts from other countries flock to the snow covered slopes of the Austrian Alps.
It is not surprising that Austria, like neighboring Switzerland and the Nordic Countries, always does well at winter games and tournaments, no matter where they are held. That, of course, holds particularly true for the 2010 Winter Olympics, this year to be held from 12th to 28th February in and around Vancouver on the west coast of Canada’s British Columbia.
The ski jumper was designed by Helmut Andexlinger, while the female snow-boarder is the work of chief engraver, Thomas Pesendorfer. Both coins share common design features and are characterized by dramatic movement.
The official side of the nine-sided coins is the standard ring of the shields of the nine federal provinces of the Republic of Austria with the face value "5" in the centre.
A total of 450,000 coins in circulation quality (225,000 per design) are being issued at face value through the banks. A further 50,000 sets of the two coins in special uncirculated quality will be issued in a double blister pack for collectors.
The Austrian Mint expects that these two silver 5 Euro coins will be sold out within a matter of weeks, as were indeed their immediate predecessors.
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Collector silver coins specifications
| Alloy: | Ag 800 |
| Finish: | Special Uncirculated |
| Diameter: | 28.5 mm |
| Fine Weight: | 2 x 8 g |
| Mintage: | 50,000 |
| Edge: | Nine-Sided, Plain |
| Date of Issue: | 20 January 2010 |
| Face Value: | 2 x 5 euro |
| Designer: | Helmut Andexlinger and Thomas Pesendorfer |
About the Austrian Mint
The Austrian Mint (http://austrian-mint.at/) is situated in the heart of Vienna and is the official minting authority for Austria with a 800 year history.
The Mint is the source for all Austrian Euro and Cent coins, whether they are intended for shopping, as an investment or for collection. Before the Euro, the Schilling and Groschen coins were minted, and before that — during the monarchy — Crowns, Guilders and Ducats were struck by the Austrian Mint.
The company is located close to the center at the Vienna Stadtpark in a Biedermeier building erected under Emperor Ferdinand I. from 1835 to 1837. Today it accommodates one of the most modern mints in the world.
