The second coin in Numiscollect’s sterling silver coin series, ‘Magical and Mystical Places, has made its appearance, and after the debut coin last May that featured the giant heads of Easter Island, this one heads to one of the worlds most impressive monuments, Angkor Wat. Following on from the earlier release incorporating a piece of actual lava from Easter Island, this coin carries on the practice by having inset a fragment of sandstone from the Angkor Wat temple site.
Angkor Wat, located in Siem Reap Province in Cambodia, is a quite phenomenal temple complex started in the 12th century by the ruler Suryavarman II (1113 – c. 1150), and is today a World Heritage Site. One of the most impressive builds in human history, the Angkor Wat Temple used more stone (6-10m sandstone blocks at an average of 1.5 tons each) than all of the Great Pyramids of Egypt combined, and covers an area greater than Paris does today. Almost every surface in the temple is adorned with carvings, a gallery wall alone being decorated with almost 1,000 square metres of bas-reliefs.
The coin is a fine design and the inset piece of stone a nice touch that elevates the coin above, for example, CIT’s World of Wonders series. There are only 999 being struck, and they’re usually available for under €100, so a relatively affordable memento of this amazing historical construction.
MINTS DESCRIPTION
This coin features a real sandstone insert from Cambodia. You can hold a real piece in your hand!
Angkor Wat (meaning City of Temples) was first a Hindu, later a Buddhist, temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. The temple was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yašodharapura, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu.
As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country’s prime attraction for visitors
| SPECIFICATION | |
|---|---|
| DENOMINATION | $5 COOK ISLANDS |
| COMPOSITION | 0.925 SILVER |
| WEIGHT | 25.0 g |
| SIZE | 38.61Â mm |
| FINISH | PROOF COLOURED |
| INSERT | SANDSTONE FRAGMENT FROM TEMPLE |
| MINTAGE | 999 |
| BOX / COA | YES / YES |
Which mint minted this 2015 Cook Islands $5 Angkor Wat silver proof coins? Did that same mint also minted $5 silver Last Judgement coin and 2015 Cook Islands $20 Temple Heaven silver coin?
Minted by Numiscollect (see big blue button above). They did not mint either of the other two coins. The Last Judgement was produced by CIT and struck by a German Mint. The producer of the Temple of Heaven has yet to be revealed.