Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Austrian Mint Announce Coin Issuing Schedule For 2010

The Austrian Mint has just released their Issuing Programme for 2010 with plenty to interest collectors amongst the popular ongoing coin series'.

January - The year starts out with the release of not one but two 5 euro commemoratives in silver, struck to celebrate the 2010 Winter Games that are being held in Vancouver, Canada from February 12. The two coin commemorate the sports of Ski-jump and Snowboard respectively and will be available in both Uncirculated (mintage 225,000 each) and Brilliant Uncirculated (50,000 each).

February - Continuing the high quality "Celebrated Physicians of Austria" 50 euro gold proof series in 2010 is issue honoring Karl Landsteiner, noted for his development in 1901 of the modern system of classification of blood groups from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the blood, and in 1930 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
It was announced on January 23, 2010 that the Karl Landsteiner Gold coin has been cancelled because the Austrian Mint was unable to clarify the personal rights with the descendants in North America. As such the mint is planning to issue a different coin to complete the Great Physicians series later in the year. This coin is expected to be released in late May.

March - This month sees the next release in the widely popular Silver/Niobium series of commemorative coins, dedicated to "Renewable Energy". The 25 euro legal tender coins in this series, first started in 2003, have grown in appeal over the years to be one of the Mint's most popular products.

April - The "Tales and Legends of Austria" silver series began in 2009 and with only 2 coins released at the time of this article, it has proved to be a wise theme choice for the Mint. With the 10 euro coins issued in Uncirculated, Brilliant Uncirculated and Proof quality, there is a coin for every budget and collectors of world coins have been snapping them up in fast and furious style. Each year for 3 years the series sees two new designs released, with the first for 2010 being dedicated to the Erzberg, also known as the Ennstaler Alps, in Styria.

May - Taking the place of the successful "Austrian Railways" series is a new run of 20 euro coins named "Rome on the Danube". These coins commemorate various towns located in Austria along the famous Danube river that were established during the time of the Roman Empire. Claudium Virunum was a Roman city in the province of Noricum, on today's Zollfeld in the Austrian State of Carinthia.

June - The first of the Austrian coin sets are released in June, and as is tradition in previous years, the release of the second of the year's 5 euro coinage is available on the same day. The mint set for 2010 will include all 8 circulating coinage from Austria, struck to brilliant uncirculated quality and housed in a full-colour informative coin folder. The 5 euro commemorative will honor the 75th anniversary of the famous Grossglockner High Alpine Road, that connects the state of Salzburg with the state of Carinthia. Named after the Großglockner, Austria's highest mountain, the road is panoramic and features many sharp curves through the mountain side, producing spectacular views of the ranges.

September - The first release for the latter half of the year sees the second in the "Rome on the Danube" silver coin series made available. This coin commemorates Vindobona, originally a Celtic settlement before becoming a Roman military camp, situated at the site of modern day Vienna. The town is known for being the place where Marcus Aurelius died in the year 180.

October - The second "Tales and Legends of Austria" silver coin release is dedicated to the story of Charlemange (Emperor Karl, Charles the Great) in the Untersberg Mountains. October also sees the highly regarded Austrian proof set of coins issued for 2010, containing all 8 circulating coins of Austria struck to exquisite proof quality.

November - The final issue for the year will be the third in the stunningly detailed gold proof series paying tribute to the Crowns of the House of Hapsburg, with the Hungarian Crown of St Stephen being recreated in stunning 98.6% gold.

Undoubtedly an exciting year ahead for lovers of Austrian Mint numismatic products! As official distributor for the Austrian Mint, Euro Collections International is able to supply stocks of the above items on the the day of their release from the mint. Be sure to follow us on Twitter or sign up to our weekly newsletter for notification of the latest arrivals to our website.

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