Palau $10 Amber Room Silver Coin Issued With Genuine Amber Insert

Issued in 2009 by the authority of the Government of Palau, this stunning high relief silver proof coin pays tribute to the famous Amber Room in Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near St Petersburg, Russia. Employing innovative minting and production techniques, the coin is presented with a piece of genuine amber inserted into the coin itself.


Palau 2009 $10 Amber Room St Petersburg 2oz Silver Proof

The original amber room dates back to the early 18th century, when designer Andreas Schlüter was employed by the King of Prussia, Friedrich I (at the request of his wife, Sophie Charlotte) to create a special room within the Charlottenburg Palace in what was then the village of Lietzow but is now Berlin. The room was built by Gottfried Wolfram, a master craftsman to the Danish court of King Frederick IV of Denmark. The room took 8 years to complete and stayed at the Charlottenburg Palace until 1716, when it was given to Peter the Great, Tsar of the Russian Empire, as a gift by King Friedrich's son, Friedrich Wilhelm, to help extrapolate an alliance between the two against Sweden.

Once in Russia, the room was expanded through several renovations, eventually exceeding 50 square metres and containing over 6 tons of amber. During World War II the Nazi troops dismantled the amber room and transferred it back to Germany, where it was never seen again and remains one of the world's great lost treasure mysteries.

In the late 1970's an effort was started to reconstruct the amber room back at Catherine Palace. The work took decades to complete but in 2003 the room was opened to the public and has since become one of the most popular tourist attractions in St Petersburg.

This breath-taking commemorative silver coin, struck from an impressive 62.20 grams of 99.9% silver, has been treated to give an antiqued appearance. The reverse features a high relief design of the interior of the amber room, with a doorway set in the centre. The design takes up every space of the 50mm coin, bearing no rim. The doorway is filled with an insert of genuine amber, visible from both sides of the coin. The obverse carries a design of another part of Catherine Palace, showing the intricate Baroque architectural style of the time.

The exquisite design and flawless amber insert are beautifully presented within an elegant wood case, accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity which confirms the tiny worldwide mintage of just 2500 coins issued.

To place an order for the Palau 2009 $10 Amber Room St Petersburg 2oz Silver Proof please visit the Euro Collections International website.