Silver Coin Maximilian Hell - 300th Anniversary of Birth 2020 Proof

Maximilian Hell - 300th anniversary of his birth

Exclusive silver coin issued in Slovakia by the Kremnica Mint in 2020 in top quality proof weighing 18 g is dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of Maximilian Hell.

The reverse of the collectible euro coin features a portrait of Maximilian Hell. In the upper left part of the coin's field, the passage of Venus through the solar disc is depicted with stars in the background, between which the birth and death dates of Maximilian Hell, "1720" and "1792", are placed in two lines. In the left-hand part of the coin field, the name 'MAXIMILIÁN HELL' appears in the description.

The obverse of the coin depicts the figure of an astronomer observing the star-studded sky through a contemporary telescope. The national emblem of the Slovak Republic is to the left of the figure of the astronomer and the denomination '10 EURO' is on the right in two lines. In the upper part of the coin field, the name of the state 'SLOVAKIA' is in the description, followed by the year '2020'. In the lower right part of the coin field are the stylised initials of the author of the coin, Karol Ličko, 'KL', and the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint, a state enterprise, which consists of the abbreviation 'MK' placed between two minting dies.

The coin is supplied in a limited edition of only 6,500 pieces for the whole world!

Maximilian Hell (1720 - 1792) - Catholic priest, member of the Society of Jesus, astronomer and mathematician. Through his scientific, teaching and publishing activities, he became a pioneer of modern astronomical science in the Habsburg Monarchy. He began his scientific career in 1745 - he became an assistant to J. Franz at the Jesuit Observatory in Vienna and began lecturing on astronomy at the university. In 1755 he became director of the Imperial (University) Observatory in Vienna, a position he held until his death in 1792. In addition to his work at the observatory and the university, he published extensively and was involved in the founding of observatories in Trnava, Cluj, Buda and Eger. Hell gained a worldwide reputation with his astronomical yearbook Ephemerides Astronomicae, which he edited from 1757 and published continuously until 1807. M. Hell was a member of several learned societies, collaborated with the English Royal Society and received its Order in 1790.