Silver Coin 5 Oz Eiffel Tower 2023 Pearl Proof

5 Oz silver coin with pearl - La Tour Eiffel

This unique silver coin with an inner core of genuine mother of pearl is part of the "Mother of Pearl" series. Minted in the purest 99.9% silver, the 5 Oz (155.5 g) coin is being issued by the Solomon Islands State for 2023 to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of engineer and architect Gustave Eiffel and to celebrate his iconic building, the Eiffel Tower.

The inner pearl in blue hue, set into the coin, depicts the Eiffel Tower and a portrait of its designer Gustave Eiffel on its reverse. In the background, the atmosphere of Paris is illustrated by a tree-lined boulevard. The illusion of a blue sky is aided by the brindle shade of the coloured mother-of-pearl, in which a facsimile of the signature 'G. Eiffel' is inscribed at the top. Parts of the image flow into the coin's silver rim, which bears the inscription 'LA TOUR EIFFEL' and the year of issue '2023'.
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832 - 1923) was a French architect and creator of structures that became more than symbols of two world capitals. In addition to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, he also designed the metal structure of the Statue of Liberty in New York. He was also the designer of other structures such as bridges and viaducts, churches, railway stations, gasworks, theatres and lighthouses, serving people all over the world.
The Eiffel Tower is the most famous landmark in Paris. Together with the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Sacré Couer Basilica and the Louvre Museum, it is one of the most visited monuments in the French capital.
It was opened to the public on 6 May 1889 as part of the World Exhibition in Paris on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Great French Revolution. Originally planned to be demolished after 20 years in 1909, its continued use as a weather station and subsequently to house a radio and television transmitter prevented its demolition. A symbol of the technical progress of its time, it is a steel structure composed of 18 038 iron pieces connected by 2.5 million rivets. At 300.65 m, the tower was the tallest building in the world until 1930, when the Chrysler Building in New York temporarily took over.
Around 7 million people visit the Eiffel Tower every year and since its opening the total number of visitors is estimated at 250 million.

The obverse displays a traditional portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian-Rank Broadley and the inscriptions "ELIZABETH II", "SOLOMON ISLANDS", the face value and weight and fineness data.

The coin comes in a deluxe gift box along with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a limited edition of only 750 pieces for the entire world!

Mother of Pearl Series
Coins in this series go through a lengthy and sophisticated production process. The mother of pearl is extracted from the shells of the world's largest pearlfish (sea pearl) - the Pinctada Maxima, which can grow up to 30 cm in diameter. The oysters are farmed on pearl farms in perfectly isolated areas of the oceans off the coasts of Australia, Tahiti, Fiji, Indonesia and the Philippines. Their shells have a very thick inner shell made up of pearl. It takes up to 12 weeks to select the most beautiful pearl shells for the Mother of Pearl series. They are then shaped to the desired form and ultrasonic waves are used to create a motif that is worked out in minute detail. To achieve the individual colouring, the pearl is soaked in a bath with the appropriate colour for a further 5 weeks. The mother-of-pearl core is then inserted into the coin using a complicated technical process.

This product is part of the following product sets: