2016-11-23 Wed

The Mint of Austria has been releasing special collector coins to celebrate New Year for the last 4 years now. The latest coin which is due for release on 7th December highlights the famous New Year’s concert which is performed annually by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with an estimated 90 million listeners worldwide.

2016 will mark the 150th anniversary of the classical tune “An der schönen blauen Donau,” or “The Blue Danube” composed by Johann Strauss II (1825–1899) in 1866 and was first performed the next year. The song was declared to be the national anthem on 29th April 29 1945 after the proclamation of Austria’s independence. Since no national anthem was available, “The Blue Danube” was played in front of Parliament.

It is the first tune performed during the annual concert which has been held since 1938 at the Wiener Musikverein, a Neoclassical style avenue inaugurated in 1870.

The nine-sided coin features, the Johann Strauss II monument in Vienna’s Stadtpark and a couple waltzing on the obverse. Other inscriptions include 2017 and 150 Jahre Donauwalzer.

The reverse depicts the crests of all nine federal states, along with the coin’s denomination and the words REPUBLIK ÖSTERREICH.

The mintage limit of the €5 Copper 10 g Unc coin is 200,000 and that of the €5 .800 silver 10 Brilliant Unc coin is 50,000.