It is time for another round of bat coins. To start off this set, a fine coin from Austria. This is a copper 5 Euro coin commemorating the Johann Struass II Operetta "Die Fledermaus" or in English, The Bat.
The coin is just a shade smaller than a US half dollar, coming in at 28.5mm in diameter and 8.9g in weight. And it is nonagonal in shape (your word of the day! meaning 9-sided), which is certainly an odd shape. But it looks pretty cool. It came in two versions, one copper and one silver (I will get to the silver one at a later date) neither of which were for general circulation. Even so, 200,000 were minted so not exactly a rare coin.
The obverse is a depiction of a lady drinking champaign at a ball (the operetta is not about a bat, but about a ball in Vienna, Austria in the 1800's). In the upper left are the words "DIE FLEDERMAUS" (The Bat in Austrian/German) and among the cluster of champaign bubbles is a flying bat. It is a fine little bat of some kind, looking very much like an insectivorous bat from Europe. The nose is a bit cat-like instead of bat-like, but that is such a small detail!
The coin is just a shade smaller than a US half dollar, coming in at 28.5mm in diameter and 8.9g in weight. And it is nonagonal in shape (your word of the day! meaning 9-sided), which is certainly an odd shape. But it looks pretty cool. It came in two versions, one copper and one silver (I will get to the silver one at a later date) neither of which were for general circulation. Even so, 200,000 were minted so not exactly a rare coin.
The obverse is a depiction of a lady drinking champaign at a ball (the operetta is not about a bat, but about a ball in Vienna, Austria in the 1800's). In the upper left are the words "DIE FLEDERMAUS" (The Bat in Austrian/German) and among the cluster of champaign bubbles is a flying bat. It is a fine little bat of some kind, looking very much like an insectivorous bat from Europe. The nose is a bit cat-like instead of bat-like, but that is such a small detail!
2015 Austria 5 Euro Commemorative obverse - Die Fledermaus (The Bat)
The reverse, while spiffy enough, is standard coinage fare. The shield of the 9 Federal Austrian States surrounds the denomination and around the rim are the words "REPUBLIK OSTERREICH" AND "EURO".
2015 Austria 5 Euro Commemorative reverse - Die Fledermaus (The Bat)
And finally, the edge of the coin also got a treatment. The flat sections have reeding while the bits near the bends do not. So overall a lot of interesting geometry and details but not too much about bats going on.
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