Austria: Final Silver Coin In Innovative Language Of Flowers Series Highlighting Violets

Each design features a particular flower that has their own special meaning when exchanged as a memento or gift. The primary focus of the popular series is to explore the significance of flowers as a form of language throughout recorded history, with each country and culture having their own version. The final flower featured is the beautiful violet, a delicate little plant with heart-shaped leaves and tiny, sweetly scented flowers from late winter to early spring. The common violet, also known as viola sororia can be blue, purple, or white in colour. They also bloom in the spring and can be found in woodlands, thickets, gardens, lawns, and even along roadsides.

Whatever their colour, they have been highly prized for thousands of years because of its endearing appearance, Violets have been given as a token of love since ancient times. The Greek poet Sappho created a poetic monument to the violet and the flower is linked with the mythological goddess of love, passion and procreation, known as Aphrodite in ancient Greece and Venus in ancient Rome. The viola odorata for instance has many symbolic meanings that include modesty, restraint, innocence and steadfastness, not to mention faithfulness, loyalty and constancy in relationships. Giving purple violets to a lover reflects your devotion and that your thoughts are occupied by them, giving them to a friend is a signal of loving appreciation. Violets are also strongly associated with devotion and a delightful way to show a loved one how much they mean and how sincere the giver’s affection is. Dreaming of violets suggests good fortune and success, while dreaming of gathering violets suggests falling in love, either with a person or with a project. However, in the language of flowers, violets speak for themselves with the meaning ‘I stand by you, come what may’ and the giving violets reiterates the gift of friendship and solidarity.

 As with all the coins in The Language of Flowers series, each is designed by Kathrin Kuntner and Rebecca Wilding and features an actual imprint of real flowers on the reverse side. Faithful to the tiniest detail, they are pressed using a special technique that captures them in their natural state. The coin’s obverse shows a scene of trust and appreciation in which the faces of a woman and man are turned towards each other, their eyes closed and hands clasped together. Both are wearing flowers in their hair. Above the primary design is the year of issue 2024 with the additional text REPUBLIK OSTERREICH is placed along the lower left rim. The denomination 10 EURO is shown along the lower right rim. The reverse shows three flowers in full bloom and a bud, all of which are imprints of real violets. Behind them is a band of stylised violets. The starting point of every coin design is from a real flower grown in an actual garden. The proof versions of the coin include a colour application onto the band in the background.

Available from the 13^th September, each proof coin is encapsulated and presented in a heavy gauge card case complete with a numbered certificate of authenticity and protective slipcase. The Special Uncirculated coins are presented in a blister pack folder with illustrations and informative text. The UNC copper coins are sold at commercial banks and the retail shop of the Austrian Mint for their face value.