This 36.1mm 5 Dollar proof coin from the British Virgin Islands was struck in an unusual bright yellow titanium alloy. When you see or hear the word "titanium" you probably think of the shafts of golf clubs. But there are a few other uses for titaniuum including Aircraft, Armor Plating, Naval Ships, Space Craft, Missles, And now Coinage: This 2008 dated coin commemorates the Beijing Olympics. The reverse features two tennis players hitting a tennis ball over the Great Wall of China. At the top the five stars (from the flag of China) appear next to an image of a dove. In the foreground the Chinese symbol for lucky number eight appears on the left and a Rat appears on the right (2008 is the Year of the Rat). The obverse pictures Queen Elizabeth II. Photo courtesy of Joels Coins: http://www.joelscoins.com/images/bvi08tit.jpg Hope you enjoyed seeing this Unusual composition coin... Clinker
Thanks to all you who read this post, but a special thanks to JeffB, New Gen. Nick, randygeki, rzage and TheNoost for commenting... Clinker
Thats pretty amazing Clinker, I wonder what the amount of titanium is, and what the dies were made of. Thanks for the post! Mark
Hi 1066merlin: The coin contains 0.3183 ounce of titanium, but am still working on finding out about the alloy/s and die composition... Clinker
In 2000 and 2001 the Austrian Mint issued two silver-titanium coins by the way. They are similar to the later silver-niobium pieces in that they also have a bimetallic look. The "ring" is silver (Ag 900), the "pill" is 3.75 g pure titanium. Images (from two ended auctions) are here for example, scroll down to view the coins ... http://www.muenzauktion.info/auction/item.php5?id=2111416 http://www.muenzauktion.com/wehling/item.php5?id=213 The Austrian Mint has also made such Ag-Ti coins for other countries, Luxembourg for example. And here is one "from" Gibraltar - well, actually from Pobjoy. A pure Titanium (Ti 999) piece ... http://www.pcwendy.de/gfx/2_niob/gfx/5pounds_2000_grf.jpg http://www.pcwendy.de/gfx/2_niob/gfx/5pounds_2000_grb.jpg Christian
