1 oz Austrian Philharmonics Platinum Coin

History

Platinum Philharmonics and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

The Platinum Philharmonic coin is named after the world renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra was founded in 1842 by a group of people in response to Vienna’s lack of professional orchestral organizations in the early 19th century. An administrative committee democratically elected by its musician members managed the orchestra as an independent body. The professional musicians who made up the ensemble were chosen exclusively from the Vienna State Opera where they had to have been playing for at least three years before even being considered as a potential member. To this date, the stringent recruiting process has not changed, which ensures the very highest level of artistic performance from every member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is today most famous for its traditional New Year’s concerts where nostalgic music from great composers is performed. These concerts have grown to become so popular that they are televised to over 90 countries, sending a message of joy for the New Year through the gracious and delightful character of music.

The Austrian Mint, a subsidiary of Austria’s Central Bank, is a world renowned mint which dates back to the 12th century. The story of the Austrian Mint begins in 1194, when Richard the Lionheart paid 12 tonnes of silver to secure his freedom from imprisonment by the Austrian Duke Leopold V. The Duke would later use the silver to strike silver coins, thus laying the foundation for the Austrian Mint. In its rich and long history, the Austrian Mint has produced many of Europe’s most famous and widely used coins, including gold crowns, guilders, ducats and silver coins such as the Maria Theresa thaler. Many of the gold coins issued by the Austrian Mint were extensively used in trade during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while the silver thaler proved to be one of the most minted and widely used silver coins in global commerce between 1750 and the 1950s.  Today, the  mint  is  best recognised  for producing  Europe’s  most  desired  investment bullion coins, the Gold and Silver Philharmonic bullion coins.