How many of you are aware that Ireland has issued a silver Proof-only 15 Euros medal-coin this year? It is commemorating Ivan Mestrovic,who was a Croatian sculptor & coin designer. Here's a photo of the reverse from the Central Bank of Ireland's website; www.centralbank.ie/data/CoinFiles/Obverse.jpg . Here's a picture of both sides; www.muntplaats.nl/item.php?p_id=5202&sid=&lang= There were only 8,000 pieces struck at the Croatian Mint,Zagreb.It was on sale at the Central Bank of Ireland for 40 Euros.No doubt,some of the British Commonwealth coin collectors would have bought this medal-coin,because of its unusual denomination. Aidan.
Yeah, I have one. I don't collect Commonwealth pieces but have quite a few euro coins, and while the euro collector coins don't have much to do with the common currency (and the Irish silver pieces cannot be had at face value), I like the "Woman with the Harp" design. See our earlier discussion here http://www.cointalk.org/showpost.php?p=195573&postcount=8 Too bad that Mestrovic's designs did not arrive in time; maybe we would have seen them on the Free State's and the Republic's coinage ... These two press releases explain the "background" of this coin design: http://www.centralbank.ie/nws_article.asp?ID=258 http://www.centralbank.ie/nws_article.asp?ID=259 Here is a picture (taken from the brochure/order form) of both the Croatian and Irish coins: http://cfmedia.gmxhome.de/pix/mestrovic.jpg Christian
Christian,Irish coins still remain popular with British Commonwealth numismatists,as there is a very strong possibility that Ireland will one day return to its membership of the British Commonwealth. Aidan.
Well, it is a fantasy medal coin. Dont know the isssuer, but the Isle of Man uses the Pound as currency and the coin you show ishould be dated 1996, when the Euro had been concieved, but not implemented...
I've referred the Krause and its listed there under 'trade coinage' km# 718. I dont know what it means... Aidan, have you got any idea about this?
The Isle of Man is not a euro country/area. But just as the IoM issued "ecu" pieces in the mid-1990s, it used the name "euro" on some pieces in the late 90s. All this before the euro actually came into existence on 1-Jan-1999 ... Those Manx ecus and euros are indeed "coins" in the sense that they were issued by the same government that issues the plethora of other IoM pieces. The face value of such a thing, however, was determined by the value of the European Currency Unit, ie. the ECU/Pound exchange rate. In late March 1998, for example, 1 ECU was £0.653644 ... Sounds very practical to me, hehe, but at least those Manx ecus/euros had a "guaranteed" value. Christian
Biju,that's a very nice Manx 15 Euros medal-coin you have there.I will check the Krause when I get to work. Aidan.
Biju,you can send photos of that Manx 15 Euros to Tom.Michael@fwpubs.com ,as that has got to get listed in Krause if it isn't already in there. Aidan.
