Saturday, August 11, 2018

Austria: Philharmonic gold coin

Austria issued this mini-sheet of two stamps in 2014 to mark the 25th anniversary of the issuance of a Vienna Philharmonic gold coin. Both stamps are round when removed from their selvage. The blue (70 eurocents) features the organ in the Gold Hall and the red stamp (90 eurocents) shows various orchestra instruments. The stamp images are replicas of the coins obverse and reverse and utilize gold foil. The coin was issued in 1989 and is one of the most popular gold instruments in the European Union; Autria Post notes it is also very popular in Japan. The coins are known for their purity and exist in various denominations, including a silver coin. Though the stamp is marking the coin's issuance, the organ included on both stamp and coin is remarkable. Here is updated information from the Musikverein on the instrument. More images and a stoplist can be seen here.

No comments: