2019 1/2 oz Austria Gold 2019 1/2 oz Austria Gold The Magic of Gold I PP PP

From the Austrian Mint, the Magic of Gold series feature ancient art treasures, where word ‘Gold’ is written on each of them in the respective script of the culture they explore: Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, the Incas, the Scythians, India and China.

With the first coin in the Magic of Gold series we travel back in time to Ancient Mesopotamia, ‘the land between two rivers’, the Tigris and the Euphrates. In Mesopotamian culture the ownership of Gold was associated with high standing and all Gold had to be handed over to the ruling classes and religious leaders. It was reserved for the powerful and the even more powerful – the gods. Mesopotamian Gold was mainly sourced from Egypt, where it was believed that the streets were paved with the precious metal.

Coin Highlights:

Contains 1/2 oz of .986 fine Gold.

Coins are packaged in the original box with a certificate of authenticity.

Obverse: Features shows a bull’s head from a detail found on the Golden Lyre of Ur, which was discovered in 1929 in the Royal Cemetery of Ur, located in present day Iraq. Created roughly 4,500 years ago, the lyre is considered to be one of the world’s oldest surviving stringed instruments.

Reverse: Features a portrait of the legendary ruler King Nebuchadnezzar II (circa 640-562 BC) wearing a horned crown. According to the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament, Nebuchadnezzar erected a huge Golden statue and made his subjects worship it on bended knee. As elsewhere, in Mesopotamia the ownership of Gold was associated with high standing. It was reserved for the powerful and all Gold had to be handed over to the ruling class and the religious authorities. Mesopotamian Gold was mainly sourced from Egypt, where it was believed that the streets were paved with the precious metal.

Guaranteed by the Austrian Mint.