Vienna Philharmonic Gold Coin

The Vienna Philharmonic Gold Coin is the 24 Karat gold bullion coin of Austria. The 800 year-old Austrian Mint began production in 1989. The metallic composition is 99.99% gold. The coin comes in four troy ounce sizes: 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, and 1 oz. The four types of coins have the same design but are denominated in Euros: €10 (.10 oz), €25(.25 oz), €50 (.5 oz) and €100 (1 oz). Prior to the adoption of the Euro in 2002, the Philharmonic Gold Coin was denominated as follows: 200 Schilling (.1 oz), 500 Schilling (.25 oz), 1000 Schilling (.5 oz) and 2000 Schilling (1 oz).

The obverse ("heads") side is a montage of musical instruments, including a string bass, cellos, violins, a bassoon, harp and Viennese horn. The words "Wiener Philharmoniker" (German for Vienna Philharmonic) are show in an arc across the top.

The reverse ("tails") side shows the the great organ in the concert hall of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The words "REPUBLIK OSTERREICH" are shown in an arc across the top. The weight, purity and year of issue are inscribed below the organ. The denomination in Euros is shown in an arc around the bottom.

Here are a few interesting facts about the Vienna Philharmonic Gold Coin. The Philharmonic Gold Coin was the best selling gold coin world-wide in 1992, 1995 and 1996 according to the World Gold Council. In 2004 the Austrian Mint was awarded the Guinness World Record for the World’s largest gold coin when it struck 15 1000 oz (31.1 kg, 69 pounds) Philharmonics. The coin was featured on the side of the Austrian Airlines Airbus A340. The Austrian Mint was established in 1194 at the court of the Badenberg dukes in Vienna to coin silver from the ransom of the English King Richard I, "Richard the Lionheart."

Face Value	€100	€50	€25	€10
Gross Weight (Troy)	1.0	0.5	0.25	0.1
Gross Weight (Grams)	31.103	15.552	7.776	3.121
Gold Weight (Troy)	1.0	0.5	0.25	0.1
Gold Weight (Grams)	31.103	15.552	7.776	3.121
Diameter (mm)	37	28	22	16
Thickness (mm)	2	1.6	1.2	1.2