1oz Austrian Silver Philharmonic Coin

The 1oz Austrian Silver Philharmonic coin is a bullion coin that was first produced by the Austrian Mint in 2008 and has since become the most popular silver bullion coin produced in Europe. In the first 5 years of its production over 54 million units of the coin were sold. One thing that probably contributed to its popularity is that it is one of the few coins that have their face values in euros. The one troy ounce coin has a face value of 1.5 Euros and is 37 mm long in diameter with a thickness of 3.2 mm. Also, the smooth-edged coin is composed of nothing but 99.9% pure silver.

Originally, the Philharmonic coins (both silver and gold) were minted to celebrate the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and that is why the coin series have the image of the Musikverein Golden Hall’s Great Organ engraved on the obverse. Inscriptions reading “REPUBLIK OSTERREICH” which is German for “Republic of Austria” and “1 UNZE FEINSILBER” which is “1 oz pure silver” can also be seen on the obverse. Similarly, the coins in the series have the same reverse design of an engraving of musical instruments like the cello, bassoon, violins and horns. Also on the reverse, are inscriptions reading “WIENER PHILHARMONIKER” and “SILBER” which are both German for “Vienna Philharmonic” and “silver” respectively. The designs on both sides were made by the Austrian Mint Chief Engraver, Thomas Pesendorfer, in the year 1989.

The coin has enjoyed a nice spell of popularity and prominence since its first mintage. When the coin was first minted in 2008, 7,773,000 units were released and the number of minted units never fell below this for the subsequent years till 2013. In fact, the coin recorded its peak production in 2011 when 17,873,700 units were produced. Suffice to say, this consistently high supply of the coin can only mean that there is consistently high demand. Consequently, the market value of this coin series is always scraping the roof of the precious metals market.