The Austrian Mints ten-coin series called ‘Federal Provinces’, also known as Austria: Piece by Piece, hits its seventh release and showcases this European countries capital city, Vienna and the like-minded province it sits in. Host to the United Nations and OPEC, Vienna is the seventh largest city by population within the European Union and a third of Austria’s population lives within its area.

This series carries on one side a depiction of a site or cultural object considered to be of “intangible cultural heritage” by UNESCO. The Vienna coin has plenty to choose from and goes with a selection of cuildings from the cities historic centre that back in 2001 was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The building in the image above is St. Charles on Karlsplatz, and is Vienna’s finest Baroque church.

The other side of this coin, like all the previous entrants, carries a design based on artwork chosen from a school competition, this time by an 11-year old schoolgirl. It sounds like a recipe for bad design, but every one of the coins to date, including this one, have greatly benefitted from this approach, featuring fresh and interesting artwork that an experienced coin designer would likely not produce.

Due to ship from the 10 June at €36.30, this 16g coin comes in the standard Austrian Mint box. A collectors box is available holding the full ten-coin series, the nine provinces and a final coin with the whole country as it’s subject. It’s a pretty cool series, if a little country-specific to have massive universal appeal, but the Austrian Mint strikes a fine coin and it sin’t an expensive set to collect either.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

One of the world’s five biggest cities a century ago, Vienna may no longer be the capital of a huge empire but it is still a world leader in terms of its quality of life. The economic and cultural dynamism, and superb infrastructure of the modern metropolis have led to Vienna being designated the “world’s most liveable city” for the past six years. With its glorious past still clearly visible, the Austrian capital is also one of the most beautiful. A place of awe-inspiring architecture and a more palpable sense of history than just about any other city on the planet, Vienna is the seventh coin in our eye-opening Austria Piece by Piece series.

OBVERSE: A vivid and varied collection of some of Vienna’s most iconic institutions, from the State Opera to the Secession, graces the coin’s obverse and emphasizes the sheer concentration of cultural gems that make Vienna’s historic centre a UNESCO World Heritage site.

REVERSE: St Stephen’s, the city’s magnificent 12th-century cathedral takes centre stage on the coin’s reverse, where a drawing by Viktoria Pinzer, the 11-year-old schoolgirl who won the school completion to design this side of the coin, uncannily captures the unique atmosphere of the city.

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