Alfred Adler is the subject of the second in the Austrian Mints gold Vienna Psychotherapy trilogy
One of the Austrian Mints best releases last year, Sigmund Freud was the first in a three coin series to be released one per year called Vienna Schools of Psychotherapy. Each of the ¼ oz 0.986 gold coins features one of the major types of psychotherapy and the founding fathers from the turn of the twentieth century Austro-Hungarian Empire that originated them.
The Austrian Mint has a reputation for producing some superb multi-year ranges of gold coins that have no silver equivalent. The multi award-winning Klimt and His Women five-coin set, and equally award winning Wildlife in Our Sights nature-themed range are perfect examples. All are tightly focused and we know when they will end and how many coins comprise the finished article.
The second coin showcases the work of Alfred Adler, the founder of the theory of individual psychology – that the individuals experiences and environment are more important than base, generic instincts in psychoanalysis. As with the Freud coin, the obverse depicts a superb portrait of the man and is surrounded by inscriptions detailing the issuer (REPUBLIK OSTERREICH), denomination (50 EURO) and the date (2018). Because of this, no inscriptions sit on the reverse face, keeping it free of intrusion. The reverse side artwork is a representation of one of Adler’s core principles. The family is seen as being of great influence on an individual and is shown here as a beautiful depiction of man, woman and child. Austrian Mint regular artists Mag. Helmut Andexlinger and Herbert Wahner continue the series after doing such excellent work on the Freud coin.
The packaging, as regular Austrian Mint coin buyers will no doubt have already guessed, is the little red box, but a bigger box that holds all three coins and the accompanying certificates is also available for a touch under €40. Made of wood with a black finish and lined in black, it will be a good item to have if the box from the Clovis series is any indicator. The mintage of the coin is set at 20,000 pieces, so you should have little trouble picking one up. The last coin will feature the father of logotherapy, Viktor Frankl, and will be available in early 2019. A subject of specialised appeal perhaps, but another outstanding coin in our view.
MINTS DESCRIPTION:
The second coin in our enlightening The Vienna Schools of Psychotherapy gold series is dedicated to Alfred Adler (1870-1937). Originally a member of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic movement, Adler broke with Freud and founded the Society for Individual Psychology in 1912. Individual psychology became a viable alternative to psychoanalysis and, like the other two pioneers celebrated in the series, Adler had a major impact on the development of psychotherapy, the scientific discipline established in Vienna in the 20th century.
Born in Vienna in 1870, Adler was the second of seven children born to Hungarian-Jewish parents. After his studies at the University of Vienna, Adler became an ophthalmologist before moving into general practice. His clinical experience led him to conclude that each patient should be viewed as a unique entity, that we are free beings who are not determined by our instincts and that we have to solve the cultural responsibilities that life imposes on us. This idea made individual psychology a therapeutic alternative to psychoanalysis, a development that was temporarily hindered by the First World War, during which Adler served as a doctor with the Austrian Army. After the war, Adler’s influence grew considerably. Form 1927 he was a regular visitor to the United States where his optimistic view of humanity achieved great popularity. In the early 1930s, Adler’s Jewish heritage led to the closure of his Austrian clinics and he left the country of his birth for a professorship at the Long Island College of Medicine. One of the world’s best known psychologists at the time, Adler died in 1937 while on a lecture tour in Scotland.
| SPECIFICATION | |
| DENOMINATION | €50 Euro |
| COMPOSITION | 0.986 gold |
| WEIGHT | 7.78 grams fine (7.89 g overall) |
| DIAMETER | 22.00 mm |
| FINISH | Proof |
| MODIFICATIONS | None |
| MINTAGE | 20,000 |
| BOX / COA | Yes / Yes |
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