As the title of this post hints, there were lot of countries involved in this worldwide celebration during 2009, which was the 400th anniversary of both the discovery of telescope for astronomical observation by Galileo Galilei and the publication of “Astronomia Nova” by Johannes Kepler. These were the reasons which were prominent in specifying 2009 as the IYA.Therefore many countries took part in different projects and they didn’t stop from that, and went on further by issuing commemorative material to cherish the IYA2009. There were books, coins. stamps, medallions and many more. I’ve focused here on the coins and numismatic issues that have been issued in commemoration of IYA2009
Austrian Mint in Vienna issued this coin, which has a face value of 25 Euros. This coins looks very elegant and has been made with Silver and Niobium, each of which complete the coin with outer silvery edge and inner ring in golden yellow. More information can be found here
This coin is a 92.5% silver proof coin with a 34mm diameter that weighs 22 grams and has a face value of 10 Euros. It has a mintage limit of only 9,000 pieces. More information cab be found here
In fact there is a set of IYA2009 Coins issued by the Royal Australian Mint together with the Canberra Astronomical Society. These were released in 2008, much earlier to the IYA2009, itself. More info is available here
This set of IYA2009 coins has 3 different coins and has been issued by ANGKASA (The Malaysian National Space Agency) in co-operation with Central Bank of Malaysia with the objective of making the public more aware of IYA2009 and it’s significance. More information are here
This Coins was issued by Canadian Mint for International Year of Astronomy IYA2009 and it has a face value of $ 30, which is much valuable. I believe many numismatists would adore to have this, which is made up of Silver (90% +) and Copper. More information available here.
This IYA2009 coin features the usual German eagle and a portrait of Johannes Kepler, respectively on obverse and reverse sides. There has been a mintage of 200,000 pieces for this silver proof coin face-valued at 10 Euros. More information are available here.
Issued by the world’s smallest state, Vatican this coin generally deals with the perception of science and faith. This has a face value of 2 Euros and depicts the European map on the obverse side and a portrait of famous talented Italian compatriot of Galileo, Michelangelo on the reverse side together with some astronomical equipment, used during 17th century which was the Galilean era. More information can be found here.
It’s great to see that more than 1 coin have been issued from Republic of San Marino in celebration of this global endeavor. They look very elegant and I’m pretty sure that astro-numismatists are gonna love these. They are simply awesome. Feel free to brows more information here.
This IYA2009 coin was issued by Czech National Bank in last October. Initially there were 1000 coins, minted with Silver (900 pieces) and Copper (100 pieces). This is a CZK 200 coin, which tributes Johannes Kepler, much similar in general to other IYA2009 coins issued by corresponding European countries. Read more about IYA2009 Czech coins here.
This Ukrainian IYA2009 coin has been issued in last October with a mintage of 45,000 pieces. This coin has a face value of 5 hryvnias (Ukrainian currency), which is less than a $1 I assume. The obverse of this coin features Urania, a goddess coming from Greek mythology and some cosmic simulation on the background, whereas the reverse depicts Yurii Drohobych who was an eminent Ukrainian astronomer, lived during the 15th century. More information could be read here.
This set of coins contains issued by Romania in celebration of International Year of Astronomy 2009 comes with elegant numismatic markup, together with a medallion issued for the same cause. This medallion is made up of silver and looks gorgeous as below.
The obverse side of this medal presents the official logo of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and the inscription « ANUL INTERNATIONAL AL ASTRONOMIEI ROMANIA 2009 » which is translated to « International Year of Astronomy 2009 ROMANIA.
Check out more details here.
This is a medallion, issued for the IYA2009 adding a little bit variety to the numismatic collections. This medal looks gorgeous in its shiny lacquer surface. The role played by the Hungarian Numismatic Society was instrumental when it comes to the issuance of this elegant medallion. The obverse, which is to your left, resemble the Hungarian version of IYA209 official logo. On the other hand you can see the figure of Jeno Gothard who was famous Hungarian astronomer, whose spectrum-related discoveries are significant in the history of astronomy. More information could be found here.
Well, that’s it. I think you had a whole lot of reading. Though I didn’t intend to extend this post to such a degree, I had to do it for the purpose of completeness, I believe there are some other countries that have had IYA2009 related numismatic issues. If you happen to know of such a country, please feel free to share it with comments, so that I can include that as well in this blog post.
Especially for astro-numismatists, I leave this IYA2009-Coin blog link to explore more news about astronomy and numismatic issues. Go ahead and collect them all. I’m sure Ebay will help you a lot in ordering these numismatic stuff. Even I, myself ordered the Ukrainian IYA2009 coin for $11.
Originally published at http://iya2009sl.blogspot.com/2010/01/iya2009-commemorative-coins-issued-by.html on 30th January 2010
What I wouldn’t give to have these coins in my collection! Especially love the Ohannes Kepler coin.
Commemorative Coins
http://citizenshipcoins.com/