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500 Schilling European Union Membership
| Issuer | Austrian Mint (Münze Österreich) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1995 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Schilling (500 ATS) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Within the silver centre, a stylized ribbon bearing a circle of twelve five-pointed stars — evoking the European Union flag — wraps around a depiction of the Austrian shield (red-white-red bands), symbolizing Austria's integration into the EU. The legend REPUBLIK ÖSTERREICH arcs along the upper portion of the inner field, while the denomination 500 SCHILLING appears along the lower portion, both separated by raised dots. The outer gold-coloured ring features twelve raised five-pointed stars evenly distributed around its circumference, reinforcing the European theme. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Smooth |
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| Additional information |
Austria joined the European Union on January 1, 1995, following a June 1994 referendum in which 66.6% of voters approved accession — a decisive margin, though the Alpine republic had spent decades as a deliberately neutral state under the 1955 State Treaty, which had made formal alignment with any major bloc politically fraught. This coin was issued the same year as membership took effect.
The bimetallic construction was itself a pointed choice: the technique had been pioneered on Europe's new generation of circulation coinage, and deploying it here on a commemorative carried an implicit argument about where Austrian currency design was heading.