10 Euros Heavenly Messengers: Uriel - The Illuminating Angel

Uriel is the fourth and most scripturally ambiguous of the archangels — absent from the canonical Old Testament, present in the Book of Enoch and 2 Esdras, and formally removed from veneration by the Lateran Council in 745 AD under Pope Zachary, who grew concerned that angel cults were displacing orthodox devotion. Austria's decision to feature him in this series is quietly bold given that history.

This is the fourth entry in the Austrian Mint's "Heavenly Messengers" series, struck in niobium-inlaid silver. The colored niobium core — anodized to produce its distinctive hue — is a technique the Austrian Mint has developed and essentially owns among world mints since the late 1990s.