Vianden Castle, perched above the Our River in northeastern Luxembourg, was actually in private hands for much of the 20th century — the state only recovered it in 1977 after it had fallen into severe disrepair. Victor Hugo lived in Vianden briefly in 1871 during his exile and wrote extensively about the castle's ruined state even then. The niobium-silver bimetallic construction, used across Luxembourg's commemorative cultural series of this period, was produced by the Austrian Mint, which holds a near-monopoly on niobium coin technology.
Vianden Castle, perched above the Our River in northeastern Luxembourg, was actually in private hands for much of the 20th century — the state only recovered it in 1977 after it had fallen into severe disrepair. Victor Hugo lived in Vianden briefly in 1871 during his exile and wrote extensively about the castle's ruined state even then. The niobium-silver bimetallic construction, used across Luxembourg's commemorative cultural series of this period, was produced by the Austrian Mint, which holds a near-monopoly on niobium coin technology.