2593) Iron Maiden (a Heavy Metal English Band), Cook Islands: A $5 (Five Dollars) Silver Coin, featuring the Band's hit Album "The Fear of the Dark": Coin coordinated by Coin Invest Trust (CIT): Minted by B.H. Mayer's Kunstprageanstalt at their facilities in Munich: Year of Coin issue: 2022:
The Header/Banner shows the Cover of the album "Fear of the Dark" against a background representation of an electric guitar all predominantly in blue
About Iron Maiden:
Iron Maiden is an English Heavy Metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris.
The band's discography has grown to 40 albums, including 16 studio albums, 13 live albums, four EPs, and seven compilations. They have also released 47 singles and 20 video albums.
Two electronic games have been released with Iron Maiden soundtracks, and the band's music is featured in a number of other video games.
As pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal movement, Iron Maiden achieved initial success during the early 1980s.
After several line-up changes, the band went on to release a series of UK and US platinum and gold albums, including 1980's "Eponymous Debut", 1981's "Killers", 1982's "The Number of the Beast", 1983's "Piece of Mind", 1984's "Powerslave", 1985's live release "Live After Death", 1986's "Somewhere in Time", 1988's "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", 1990's "No Prayer for the Dying", and 1992's "Fear of the Dark", 2010 "The Final Frontier", 2015 "The Book of Souls" 2021 "Senjutsu".
In 1982 the band released its album "The Number of the Beast", the first with Bruce Dickinson, who replaced Paul Di'Anno as lead singer. This was a turning point in their career, helping establish Iron Maiden as one of the most important heavy metal artists in history.
By 2010, more than 14 million copies of the album had been sold worldwide.
Since the return of lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith in 1999, the band has undergone a resurgence in popularity, with a series of new albums and highly successful tours.
Their 2010 album, "The Final Frontier", peaked at No. 1 in 28 countries and received widespread critical acclaim.
The sixteenth studio album, "The Book of Souls", was released on 04.09.2015 to similar success, debuting at number one in the album charts of 24 countries. Their seventeenth studio album, "Senjutsu" was released on 03.09.2021.
By 2017, Iron Maiden had sold well over 100 million copies of their albums worldwide, despite little radio or television support.
By 2021, all audio-visual releases of the band have sold in over 200 million copies worldwide, including regular albums, singles, VHS', DVDs and all compilations, despite little radio or television support.
They have played more than 2000 live shows throughout their career.
For over 40 years, the band members have been supported by their famous mascot, “Eddie”, who has appeared on almost all of their album and single covers, as well as in their live shows.
With their lead singer Bruce Dickinson being an official licensed commercial pilot, the band has its own plane (Boeing 747) called “Ed Force One” to travel around the globe.
Iron Maiden have become one of the most influential and revered rock bands of all time and helped spawn an entire genre of music. According to many critics the band elevated heavy metal to an art form, proving that academic and musical inspirations can coexist.
The band and its musicians have received multiple nominations, honours and awards including Grammy Awards and equivalents awards in many countries.
Iron Maiden's lyrics cover such topics as history, literature, war, mythology, society, religion. Many of their songs are based on history, classic literature and film.
Background of the album - "Fear of the Dark":
On 11.05.1992, Iron Maiden released their ninth studio album.
Its title was "Fear of the Dark", and it included hits such as “Be Quick or Be Dead” and the name-giving song “Fear of the Dark.”
The cover, which is the fifth issue of the Iron Maiden Cin Series by Coin Invest Trust (CIT), was the first not to be designed by Derek Riggs.
His suggestions were rejected in favor of the ideas of then-unknown illustrator Melvyn Grant.
Grant had a completely different background. He created large-scale oil paintings that were mainly used as book covers for science fiction and fantasy novels.
In fact, Grant’s cover is strongly reminiscent of the cover of a horror novel despite the use of the group’s mascot Eddie.
Mick Wall, the group’s biographer, described the depiction “as some sort of Nosferatu tree figure leering at the moon.”
The group liked the new design. Melvyn Grant would go on to create numerous other covers for Iron Maiden. After Derek Riggs, he is the artist who designed the second-highest number of covers.
With the help of state-of-the-art colour technology, CIT succeeded in captivating the threatening atmosphere of the Iron Maiden cover.
In combination with Obsidian Black, the yellow moon against the dark backdrop illustrates exactly what the text of the name-giving song describes - "Watching horror films the night before / Debating witches and folklore / The unknown troubles on your mind / Maybe your mind is playing tricks / You sense and suddenly eyes fix / On dancing shadows from behind".
Although critics were not enthusiastic about the cover, the fans loved it.
"Fear of the Dark" became the third Iron Maiden album that made it to the top of the UK album charts. It became the group’s most successful album in North America.
The Coin:
This coin is dedicated to Iron Maiden - one of the most influential and successful heavy metal bands in history. The album is titled — "Fear of the Dark".
The Reverse of the $5 (Five Dollars) Silver Coin features a colour image of the cover of the ninth studio album of the English heavy metal group Iron Maiden with the title "Fear of the Dark" (at lower bottom), released in 1992.
The name of the Band "Iron Maiden" is inscribed vertically at left.
The Obverse of the $5 (Five Dollars) Silver Coin shows an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II facing right designed by Ian Rank-Broadley, whose initials "IRB" appear below the Queen's neck. The peripheral inscriptions are - "ELIZABETH II. 5 DOLLARS. COOK ISLANDS. 2022."
The specifications of this Coin are:
Country of issue: The Cook Islands; Year: 2022; Denomination/Face Value: $5 (Five Dollars); Metal Composition: .999 Fineness Silver (Ag); Weight: 1.0 Oz or 31.107 grams; Diameter/Size: 38.61 mm; Coin Quality: Obsidian Black; Mintage: 1982 pieces; Special Technique: Smartminting® (Ultra High Relief); Presentation Box/Case: Yes; Certificate of Authenticity (COA): Yes.
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