2010 Austria €10 Silver Coin "Erzberg in Styria"

• Mint: Austrian Mint
• Denomination: €10
• Quality: Proof/BU/UNC
• Limit: 40,000/30,000/130,000
• Alloy: 92.5% Sterling Silver
• Diameter: 32 mm
• Weight: 16 grams
• Artist: Thomas Pesendorfer
• Proof version delivered in jewel box with numbered certificate of authenticity. BU coin comes in informative blister pack. UNC coin comes in capsule.

Additional Information

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Issued on April 14, this is the third issue in a series of six coins called “Tales & legends of Austria”. The new coin recounts the folktale surrounding the discovery of Erzberg, one of the most important iron ore sources in Europe still in use today.

According to the tale, a merman lived in a deep, dark grotto filled with cold water in the southeast of Austria. During the day, he would slip out of the water and warm himself in the sun. The people of the area were afraid of him. However, legend had it that if you caught a merman, in order to gain his freedom he had to grant you a wish. One day, two men snared him in a dark cloak covered in sticky tar. As he was being drug away, the merman offered the men a deal: gold for a year, silver for 10 years, or iron forever.” The men decided to benefit from iron forever. The merman told them the location of the Erzberg Mountain that was filled with iron, so they then released him. He slipped back into his grotto and was never seen again. The mountain and its riches continue to be mined today.

The obverse of the coin shows a scene of iron ore mining in the Middle Ages. On the left side a miner pushes a cart-load of ore out of the mine shaft, while on the right side another miner breaks up the ore with a pick and hammer. In the background is the step-like form of the iron mountain, Erzberg. The reverse of the coin depicts two men with a tar-covered cloak held between their hands creeping up on a sleeping merman, who is loosely holding a trident spear in his webbed right hand.