Lunar Year of the Snake 2025 United Kingdom £5 Brilliant Uncirculated Coin

Denomination: 5£
Alloy: cu/ni
Weight: 28.28 g
Diameter: 38,6 mm
Quality Brilliant Uncirculated
Year: 2024

A beautiful celebration of the most significant symbol in Chinese culture
The first Lunar coin to feature the official coinage portrait of His Majesty The King

In 2024, Chinese New Year, The Year of the Dragon starts on 10 February. A joyful time that is marked by communities all over the world, friends and family will gather to enjoy traditional food, watch firework displays and gift children money in red envelopes. Each year is characterised by one of 12 zodiac animals, and 2024 sees the dragon in the ascendancy. Wise and powerful, the dragon is China’s most important cultural symbol and has come to represent confidence, courage and adventurousness. People born under its zodiac sign are said to possess these traits

Quality: Uncirculated
Face Value: 5 Euro
Diameter: 28,5 mm
Material: Copper
Total Weight: 8,9 g
Mintage: 200 000

A coin the likes of which Austria has never seen before, Democracy is made from copper from the former roof of the Parliament building in Vienna. When you purchase the coin you therefore acquire a little piece of democracy and by spending 5 euros you get something priceless in return.

On the occasion of the reopening of the Parliament building in Vienna, we are issuing this very special coin. The copper it contains originally formed part of the former roof of the building but was removed during the ongoing renovation of the building. By using it to make the copper edition of the Democracy coin, we are making our democratic tradition something tangible. A strong democracy thrives on discourse. Our opinions may differ, but our consensus is democracy. Likewise, fundamental rights and freedoms make a democracy what it is. They enable individual and social freedom and guarantee the co-determination of the individual.

The coin’s reverse features two heads in profile and one full face, which represent the people as sovereign. To the left, we see a watchful eye surrounded by stylised laurel leaves, to the right, we see a section of the Austrian Parliament building in the background. But much more than this, the coin illustrates the spirit from which our nation was born. This is reflected in the Austrian Constitution, where it says: "Austria is a democratic republic. Its law emanates from the people." These wise words appear on the top and bottom edges of the coin.

Face value: 0.2 $
Issuing country: Samoa
Weight: 25 g
Diameter: 40 mm

Poseidon, as the god of water and of the sea, is the lord of sea creatures, so the sign of the pair of fish is more than appropriate. Pisces, however, also dives deeper in Poseidon’s realm. For starters, it is associated with the feet, and Poseidon is also a god of the earth, of tremors and geological processes, closely tied to water eroding rocks. The sea is also considered to be where the pillars of the universe are located in most western Eurasian religions, and in Greek thought Poseidon’s realm extends even to the Underworld, where the four rivers run, a connection particularly important in the more chthonic versions of Hellenic religion. If Cancer is the Moon and it’s spiritual essence while Scorpio is blood and the impulses, with Aquarius also representing sky waters, Pisces is simply the pure nature of water as an element, symbolizing the immensity of the seas and the many freshwater bodies. It’s the sign of mutability and change, resonating with water’s classical attribute as well as the very real quick and natural changes into ice, liquid, gas or cloud and also the currents. It also symbolizes Spring waters, be them from rains or melting snow and ice, feeding the fields and civilization, acting as water changing the surrounding environment.

Issuing Country: France
Face value: 5 €
Metal: Copper/Nickel
Diameter: 29 mm
Quality: B.U.
Mintage: 25 000

The wheel of the zodiac signs is engraved on the coin's gold-colored crown. One sign stands out from the background because it is larger than the others and has a sandblasted background that differs from the others. It is the symbol of Libra. Part of the wheel is hidden by spirals of mist, in reference to air, the element of this sign. At the very center of the design stands a balance. Its column, surrounded by ivy, resembles a sword, an attribute of Justice, to which it is also associated. Its pans seem slightly weightless as they weigh the sun on one side and a crescent moon on the other. In the background, the constellation Libra is outlined against a starry sky.

Denomination: 0,25 €
Alloy: Cupro-nickel Nordicgold
Weight: 15,8 g
Diameter: 34 mm
Quality Brilliant Uncirculated
Year: 2026

Surrounded by plum blossom, a symbol much used in Chinese history and art, and lanterns, the horse is depicted in a joyful, childlike manner. The inscription ‘Year of the Horse’ followed by the year 2026 appears in the centre of the coin. The ideogram of the horse appears at the bottom right of the coin. On the reverse, all the animals of the Chinese zodiac are drawn in a childlike way around the Ying and Yang symbol. A complete cycle of the Chinese zodiac begins in 2018 and lasts until 2029. Each of the twelve years in this period is represented by one of the zodiac animals. The face value is visible in the centre of the denomination and the wording ‘RF’.

Face vakue: 3 euro
Diameter; 32 mm
Weight: 15,0 g
Alloy: Bimetal;CuNi, nordic gold
Quality: UNC
Mintage: 60 000