3067) "Snowflake", Republic of Austria (Osterreich Republik): A unique Gift of Nature: Date/Year of Coin issue: 08.11.2023:
This coin brings a snow crystal, one of billions, very close to our eyes - beautiful, enchanting and, above all, unparalleled.
Each snowflake is a unique gift from heaven, each is a palace, one more beautiful than the other, but each evokes the magic of winter.
Winter Delights:
When will the snow come? When will the moment be when the first snowflake tumbles through the air, lands on the cheek or the tip of the nose and melts instantly? Will Heaven's ambition then be awakened? Is there going to be a magical big show? Will the snow fall thicker and thicker and eventually dress the landscape all in pure white?
Astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571 to 1630) was so fasxinated by snowflakes that it sparked his scientific interest and led him to write the first monograph on snow crystals.
The title of the work is "Strena Seu De Nive Sexangula" ("New Year's Gift or On the Hexagonal Shape of Snow") and is full of exciting insights. This treatise written in the form of a letter was a gift to Johann Matthäus Wacker von Wackenfels. Kepler wrote that his friend and patron now received "nothing", which not only means snow in Latin, but also colloquially "nothing".
Kepler's "Strena Seu de Nive Sexangula" is the first scientific treatise concerning crystallography.
In it, Kepler pondered the problem of why snowflakes are always six-sided. But every explanation the author formulated, he also rejected, and eventually Kepler concluded that the true explanation remained for future investigators to resolve.
The crystallographic importance of this work arises from the author's discussions of space filling and symmetry. Kepler's discussions of how ordered symmetrical shapes arise from the packing together of similar bodies, even though the bodies are not symmetric themselves.
Included in his observations are accounts of cubic and hexagonal closest packing, an important concept of modern crystallographic studies.
The 1611 pamphlet is extremely rare - only about a dozen copies are present in libraries.
Kepler's text was published in 1619 in a book edited by one of Kepler's friends, the German physician Casper Dornau (1577 - 1632).
This book, one of the largest and most fascinating collections of the period, contains almost 700 works including comic treatises, poems, observations on animals, plants, and minerals, biographies of personages of antiquity, and discussions of such things as injustice, folly, fever, gout, and envy. Kepler's treatise on the snowflake is also reprinted in this collected work.
Not nothing, but a lot - snow, as fleeting as it may seem, changes the face of the world and touches people's souls.
The Coin:
The snowflake coin made of the purest silver with sparkling crystal is a precious gift, whether in a St. Nicholas bag or under the Christmas tree.
This glittering coin preserves an otherwise ephemeral and fleeting appearance, and it revels in fairytale fantasies.
The Obverse of the 20 Euro Silver Coin shows a greatly enlarged snowflake. In its center is placed an ice-blue gemstone. Parts of the outline of the snowflake are polished.
The inscriptions are - "REPUBLIK OSTERREICH. 20 EURO. 2023."
The Reverse of the 20 Euro Silver Coin shows a young woman in profile - an allegory of winter, a snow princess.
She wears a crown and cloak, both decorated with snow crystals. The background is partially polished in the area of the crown, as well as in the lower right part of the coin, where snow crystals are forming.
The specifications of the Coin are:
Country: Oesterreich Republik ("Republic of Austria"); Date/Year of Coin issue: 08.11.2023; Coin Denomination: 20 Euro; Coin Series Theme: "Christmas"; Coin Theme: "Snowflake"; Metal Composition: .925 Fineness Silver (Ag); Coin Quality: Polierte Platte/Proof (P); Diameter/Size: 34.00 mm; Total Weight: 22.42 grams; Fine Weight: 20.74g/0.66oz; Coin Engraver: Anna Schlindner; Mintage: 30,000 pieces; Edge: Plain; Accessories: UV Torch for special colour effect;
Packaging/Presentation: In a case with numbered certificate and slipcase.
More posts on insect world on this blog:
i) Beetles: A set of five Post Cards issued by Chennai Postal Circle of India Post in 2017
ii) Lady Bug Beetles: A set of four Commemorative stamps brought out by India Post on 23.02.2017
Posts on "Wonderful World of Insects":
i) "Diverse Habitats & Insects that live in them", Federal Republc of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland): "Wondeful World of Insects Coin Series": (Wonderwelt Insecten"): First Coin in the Series issued by the Stuttgart Mint: Date/Year of Coin issue: 20.10.2022
ii) "Siebenpunkt-mariekafer" (or "Seven-spotted ladybird"), Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland): "Wonderful World of Insects Coin Series" (WONDERWELT INSECTEN"): Second 5 Euro Colour Coin in the Series: Coin issued by the Berlin Mint (Mint Mark "A"): Date/Year of Coin issue: 09.03.2023
iii) "Swallowtail", Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland): "Wonderful World of Insects Coin Series" ("WONDERWELT INSECTEN"): Third 5 Euro Colour Coin in the Series: Coin issued by the Karlsruhe Mint (Mint Mark "G"): Date/Year of Coin issue: 09.06.2023
iv) "Rust-red Mason Bee", Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublikk Deutschland): "Wonderful World of Insects Coin Series" (WONDERWELT INSECTEN"): Fourth 5 Euro Colour Coin in the series: Coin issued by the Berlin Mint (Mint Mark "D"): Date/Year of Coin issue: 07.09.2023
Runes:
1) Did You Know Series (81): Runes, Germania Mint: A set of six Silver Antique Finish (AF) Runes - part of a set of 24 - used as a Divination Tool by using stones with symbols to answer questions about the last, present, and future: Year of Runes minted: 2023
The Tarot Card Collection:
11) "Wheel of Fortune", Tarot Cards, Niue Island: The Eleventh $2 (Two Dollars) Coin Card released by the New Zealand Mint on behalf of Niue Island: Year of Coin issue: 2023
12) "Justice", Tarot Cards, Niue Island: The Twelfth $2 (Two Dollars) Coin Card releasedby the New Zealand Mint on behalf of Niue Island: Year of Coin issue: 2023
13) "The Hanged Man", Tarot Cards, Niue Island: The Thirteenth $2 (Two Dollars) Coin Card released by the New Zealand Mint on behalf of Niue Island: Year of Coin issue: 2023
14) "Death", Tarot Cards, Niue Island: The Thirteenth $2 (Two Dollars) Coin Card in the Major Arcana released by the New Zealand Mint on behalf of Niue Island: Date/Year of Coin issue: 2023
Posts on Grimm's Fairy Tales on this Blog:
4) "Hans im Gluck", (or "Hans in Luck"), Federal Republik of Germany: "Grimm's Fairy Tales Coin Series": A 20 Euro Silver Collector Coin released by the Stuttgart State Mint featuring the popular children's tale: Date of Coin issue: 01/2023"
5) "Das tapfere Schneiderlein," (or "The Brave Little Tailor"), Federal Republik of Germany: "200 Years of Grimms Fairy Tales Coin Series - 1812-2012": A 20 Euro Silver Collector Coin released by if Karlsruhe State Mint featuring the popular children's tale: Date of Coin issue: 19.01.2023
More Links to posts on Austria and Germany on this Blog:
Links to "Luminous Marine Life" Coin Series:
The Language of Flowers Coin Series:
Links: Crypto-Currency Stamps & Coin Posts:
1) Croatian Crypto Stamp - 2, Croatia: A 50 HRK stamp (a combination of the analog and the digital) issued by "Hrvatska Posta" (Croatian Post) in coordination with the Croatian Blockchain community gathered around the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association: Date of Stamp issue: 16.12.2020
2) Did You Know Series (49): Dogecoin (DOGE), Blockchain Mint, Singapore: Blockchain Mint has issued Silver DOGE Medals in three variants - i) Silver Dogecoin Cryptocurrency Medal Gem BU, ii) Silver Dogecoin Cryptocurrency Medal Proof-Like in Blister Pak, iii) Dogecoin Cryptocurrency Commemorative Medal Antiqued in Blister Pak: Date of Medal release/shipping: 05/2021
3) Did You Know Series (50): A Guest Post by Avery Wright: "Is Making the Crypto Space Legally Complaint Paving the Road to Mass (Blockchain) Adoption?" - A perspective:
4) Gibraltar Cryptocurrency Stamp: Stamp value 4 Pounds: Date of Stamp issue: 15.05.2021: (Pre-orderd accepted from 19.04.2021):
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6) "Blockchain Technology", Principality of Liechtenstein: A Crypto Stamp of CHF 5.20 titled "Perspective" issued by Liechtensteinische Post: Date of Stamp issue: 06.09.2021
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8) Crypto-stamp - Rimec Nevera, Croatia: Htvatska posta (Croatian Post) has issued a Crypto-stamp Souvenir Sheet (a combination of the analog and the digital) of One Stamp of HRK50.00 on a PVC background: Date of Crypto-stamp issue: 09.09.2021
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10) "Equality", Liechtenstein: A "BlockChain Stamp Series: A Stamp 4.1 "Equality issued by Liechtensteinische Post (Philately Liechtenstein) with a face value of CHF 9.00): Date of Stamp issue: 09.09.2022
11) Croatian Crypto Stamp, Croatia: A 50 HRK Stamp (a combination of the analog and the digital) issued by "Hrvatska Posta (Croatian Post) in coordination with the Croatian Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association: Date of Crypto Stamp issue: 09.09.2020
World War I and II and East Germany Coins and Banknotes:
Links to posts on Federal Republic of Germany issues and other posts on this blog:
In the Service of Society Coin Series":
World War I and II and East Germany Coins and Banknotes:
Posts on the Tank Museum, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India and similar posts on this Blog:
"Confrontation" Coin Series:
Links to posts on Austrian Mint Coin issues on this blog:
Stop Climate Change Coins:
Magic of Gold 100 Euros Gold Coin Series:
"Eyes of the Continents" Coin Series:
New Year Lucky Coin Releases:
Austria's Unsung Heroines Coin Series:
The "Uncharted Universe" Coin Series:
Alpine Treasures Coin Series:
For posts on COTY (Coin of the Year) winners since 2015 in a competition held by Krause Publications of Germany, please visit the following links:
Santosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very informative article. Thanks for sharing this interesting post."
Thank you so much Khanna sahab.
DeleteRajan Trikha has commented:
Delete"Very interesting post on a tiny snowflake."
Thank you so much, Trikha sahab.
Delete