2017 1/4 oz Austria Gold 2017 1/4 oz Austria Gold Sigmund Freud PP PP

We begin our series on the Viennese schools of psychotherapy with their pioneer, the inventor of psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud. He was the first to allow his patients to freely associate and talk about their dreams. His findings marked a spiritual revolution in the study of human nature. – Our first of three gold coins promises more joy than sorrow.

On the couch

Born Schlomo Sigismund Freud on May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Moravia, to Jewish parents, he became the founder of psychoanalysis in Vienna. For 47 years, Freud lived and practiced at Berggasse 19 in Vienna's 9th district. A single piece of furniture sufficed as a treatment tool for him: a couch. His enlightening insights are manifold: For example, he pointed to the unconscious and its profound influence on our behavior. He dared to remove the taboo surrounding sexuality and view it as an integral part of human existence.

Freud is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century.

The coin

The value side shows a portrait of Sigmund Freud; the model is a detail from a photograph by Ferdinand Schmutzer from 1926.

The other side focuses on a central theme in Freud's work: desire. This is visualized through a pair of lovers. They seem removed from reality and lost in a shared dream, an enigmatic dream of which the ornaments around them give no more than a hint.

Collecting means concentration and condensation. Freud's portrait on one side, a dream scene on the other: Together, they may serve as a golden starting point for a journey of discovery.