The Swiss Confederation is launching a new gold commemorative coin as part of the UN Year of Planet Earth celebration. The gold coin has a face value of 50 Swiss francs, and the mintage is limted to 6000.

International Year of Planet Earth
The United Nations have declared the year 2008 as the “International Year of Planet Earth”. World-wide activities on the subject of earth sciences will be co-ordinated by UNESCO, the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and other UN or-ganisations.

What do earth sciences mean to our society? How does the exploration of the earth contribute towards a safer and wealthier world? Geophysicists and scientists will be looking into the answers to these questions during the years 2007 – 2009. In Switzer-land, the Science et Cité Foundation and the Swiss Academy for Natural Sciences are organising BaseCamp09, a road show that will visit six Swiss cities and is in-tended for the general public. The BaseCamp consists of a basic exhibition on envi-ronmental changes and explains the work of the research community. BaseCamp09 visitors will experience the gradual climate change with their own eyes and ears.

The designer of the “International Year of Planet Earth” gold coin is artist Claude Sandoz from Lucerne, who has a wealth of experience in designing coin motifs from past projects for Swissmint. For the Planet Earth, he places mankind in the centre of three globes. The Earth lays at man’s feet and one stands on his head. Man also car-ries it gently in his hands. The gold coin with a face value of 50 Swiss francs is avail-able in “proof coin” minting quality

The proceeds form the sale will go to promote cultural projects throughout Switzer-land, and can be purchased directly from the Swiss Mint

The Federal Mint Swiss mint, continues its four-part “Swiss National Park” series of commemorative coins. Last year, the series started with the motif of the ibex. The red deer and the marmot with follow in 2009 and 2010.

The designer of the”Golden Eagle” commemorative coin is scientific illustrator Nik-laus Heeb. He shows the bird of prey just coming in to land – a dynamic and vigorous pose that is rarely seen in pictures. The bimetallic coin made of aluminium-bronze and copper-nickel has a face value of 10 Swiss francs and is available in minting qualities “uncirculated” and “proof” in a presentation case. The new commemorative coin also supplements the Swiss coin sets for 2008 (legal tender).

After the bearded vulture, the golden eagle is the largest domestic bird of prey and one of the most powerful predatory birds in the world. Females are always larger than males: the wingspan of the female is around 220 cm, that of the male around 200 cm. Its talons, the size of a man’s hand with rear claws often exceeding 5 cm in length, are an especially impressive feature. (more…)