2016-12-16 Fri

The 150th anniversary of the first performance of The Blue Danube and the 175th anniversary of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was celebrated with the issue of new coins.

The Blue Danube is played during Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s New Year’s Concert and is also the first tune that's aired on Austrian radio. The tune was composed by Johann Strauss II in 1866.

The reverse of the 5 euro silver coin features the Johann Strauss II monument in Vienna’s Stadtpark along with a couple waltz in the background.

The obverse of the 20 euro silver coin features portraits of the orchestra’s three founding fathers: Otto Nicolai, August Schmidt and Alfred Julius Becher. The reverse shows an illustration of Max Oppenheimer’s 15m2 triptych Die Philharmoniker, which is now showcased at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna.

The Vienna Philharmonic bullion coin is one of the world’s most popular investment products for more than 25 years.