Today the Austrian Mint issued the fifth coin of its Maritime History series. This coin is dedicated to the Merchant Navy. It shows, on one side, the SMS "Kaiser Franz Joseph I" leaving the port of Trieste and the ship "Bruenn" entering the port.

The other side shows Trieste (or Triest in German) which, until 1918, was the most important Austrian maritime port. After WW1, the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy came to an end, and Trieste became part of Italy. The scenery and also the old coat of arms refer to the pre-WW1 city.



A larger and more detailed image is here:
http://www.numismatico.de/files/at-20euro_257.jpg

The coin is available in proof only and can thus not be purchased at face value. The EU price is about €35; mintage is 50,000. This is the fifth coin in a series of six:

2004: SMS Novara, SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max
2005: Admiral Tegetthoff (Polar Sea Expedition), SMS Sankt Georg (that one also features the Statue of Liberty)
2006: SMS Kaiser Franz Joseph (Merchant Navy), SMS Viribus Unitis (Navy)

That last coin in the Maritime History series will come in September/October.

Christian

A very nice coin. I really like the city/port scene.

I like that one!

I like the ship side, I don't know the other side might be too cluttered for me, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy it anyway.

Yes, quite a few Austrian collector coins suffer from that "horror vacui", and that also applies to this one. (IMO of course.) But for collectors of "ship" coins that series, and particularly this piece with the port scene, can be attractive ...

Christian