Wiener Philharmoniker Investment Coin
The Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic), one of Europe's most popular investment coins, has traditionally been minted in 5 sizes and weights (1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, 1/10 ounce and 1/25 ounce) since 1989. The most popular are the ounce variants, i.e. the gold Wiener Philharmoniker 1 Oz investment coin or the silver Wiener Philharmoniker 1 Oz coins.
This coin from the Austrian Mint Münze Österreich is based on the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, which is considered the finest musical ensemble in the world. The gold versions of these investment coins are minted from the purest 99.99% 24 carat gold. The original denominations of 2,000, 1,000, 500 and 250 shillings were changed to 100, 50, 25, 10 and 4 euros in 2002 (there is no difference in price between the two denomination variants).
Description of Wiener Philharmoniker coins
Obverse side
The obverse of the coin depicts, in all variants, the great organ in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, the seat of the Vienna Philharmonic, and the inscription REPUBLIK ÖSTERREICH above it. The difference between the gold and silver variants is in the purity mark and the denomination, which are shown at the bottom of the coins. In the case of gold coins, according to the grammage 1/10, 1/4, 1/2 or 1 UNZE GOLD 999,9 and the denomination 10, 25, 50 or 100 EURO (or 250, 500, 1000, 2000 SCHILLING), followed by the year of minting. For silver 1 UNZE FEINSILVER coins, the denomination of 1.50 EURO and the year of issue.
Reverse side
The coin bears on its reverse a selection of nine musical instruments of the symphony orchestra - four violins, cello, bassoon, harp and horn. The inscription WIENER PHILHARMONIKER (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) appears at the top of the coin, with the metal name SILVER below it for silver coins.
Author of the mintage
The chief engraver of the Austrian Mint , Thomas Pesendorfer, designed the obverse and reverse for the new Wiener Philharmoniker gold investment coins in 1989. The following year they became the best-selling investment coins in Europe and the second best-selling in the world. The same motif was followed by silver investment coins in 2008 and platinum in 2016.
