The Austrian Mint is the official mint of Austria, and is located in Heumarkt, central Vienna. The earliest beginnings of the mint date back to 1194 A.D. Other mints were established throughout Austria in towns such as Krems, Salzburg, and Graz, but in 1918 when the Republic of Austria was formed, the Vienna Mint became the country’s only official mint. The mint came under the Austrian National Bank as a subsidiary in 1989. The Austria Mint’s name was changed the Austrian Mint AG.
History and Design
The Austrian Mint created the most internationally known coin in 1780, the year Maria Theresa died. The coin, a Maria Theresa Taler, is a silver bullion coin that holds the record for the most highly minted coin in the world. This success created a revere for the mint as an ambassador of Austria. The next successful coin was the Vienna Philharmonic gold bullion coin. Its success led the mint into further development as a successful company, and was the predecessor for the Austrian Silver Philharmonic coin.
The popular Austrian Silver Philharmonic coin is one of Europe’s most appealing coins. This striking coin was first issued in 2008 as the silver version of the Austrian Mint’s Gold Philharmonic bullion coin. Coin collectors and investors are sure to have these silver bullion coins among their collections.
The renowned Austrian Mint has minted coins for more than 800 years. It’s one of the world’s oldest mints in business today. The Austrian Silver Philharmonic bullion coin is 99.9% pure silver, weighs 1 oz, and is set to a denomination of 1.5 Euros. It’s the only such silver bullion coin to bear the denomination in Euros.
The front of the coin is adorned with an array of orchestral instruments. A harp, Vienna horn, a bassoon, four violins, two of them on each side of a cello. The inscription reads, WIENER PHILHARMONIKER meaning VIENNA PHILHARMONIC.
The reverse is decorated with artwork created to show the Great Organ located in the Musikverein Vienna Golden Hall, which is home base for the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. Text is inscribed to include the issue year, country of origin, weight, and face value.
Mintage and Production
The Austrian Silver Philharmonic coin is one of the most artistically enhanced silver bullion coins minted. These coins have sold at a mintage more than 45 million, making it the best selling silver bullion coin in Europe. Classical composers such as Mozart and Haydn come from Austria in the heart of Europe. As a coin that highlights Austria’s history of classical music passion and tradition, the Austrian Silver Philharmonic bullion coin also lends a sense of purity.
Austrian Silver Philharmonic bullion coins reached a high sales number of 17,873,700 in 2011, which was a 57.36% increase over the 11,358,200 sold in 2010. These times, hard to find silver bullion coins are still selling in large numbers and are expected to continue the upward trend. Phils are more economical as they normally sell at lower premiums than other silver bullion coins.
Silver Philharmonics ship in tubes of 20 coins and Monster Boxes of 500 coins, and purchasing Phils in bulk will save you money vs individual coin purchases.