2012 Austria €5 Issue "Society of Music"

• Mint: Austrian Mint
• Denomination: €5
• Quality: BU/UNC
• Limit: 50,000/300,000
• Alloy: 80% Silver/Copper
• Diameter: 28.5 mm
• Weight: 8 grams
• Artist: Helmut Andexlinger
• BU version comes in a printed, colorful blister pack
• UNC minted in copper for the first time

Additional Information

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Issued on December 14, this release honors the 200th anniversary of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna.

The Musikverein started as a small group of friends of music and grew rapidly and soon had its own concert hall. Prior to building the performance hall it currently owns, they had a small hall that only seated 700 listeners. It was much too small to satisfy the demand from the public who wanted to enjoy great music on a regular basis. Today’s Musikverein concert hall was built and is owned by the Society of Music Friends on land given to them by the Emperor Franz Joseph. The opening day was January 6, 1870. The concert hall is considered by experts to be one of the finest in the world, which is truly amazing considering it was built at a time when the science of acoustics did not exist. The Golden Hall is world-renowned because it is from here that the annual New Year’s concert is broadcast. Some estimates state that more than a billion listeners tune in for this annual broadcast.

Please note that the uncirculated version of this coin - sold at face value from Austrian commercial banks - for the first time is minted in copper.