| Coin | Ten Diners 2009 Life of Chopin - Mallorca 1838 |
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This crown-sized Ten Diners (10 D.) commemorative coin was issued as part of an eight-coin set commemorating the life of Frédéric Chopin, each highlighting a different period of his life.
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation". 2009 marked 160 years since his death in 1849, while the next year marked the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1810 and was declared Worldwide Year of Chopin - 2010.
This coin is dedicated to the time he spent on the island of Mallorca together with Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, best known by her pen name as a writer - George Sand. The couple, and her two children from her marriage with Casimir Dudevant, spent the winter of 1838 - 1839 on Mallorca at the (formerly abandoned) Carthusian monastery of Valldemossa. The trip to Mallorca was described in her Un hiver à Majorque (A Winter in Majorca), first published in 1841. Chopin was already ill with incipient tuberculosis at the beginning of their relationship, and spending a cold and wet winter there because they could not get proper lodgings exacerbated his symptoms. Proper lodgings were refused the them by the locals, who disapproved of the fact that they were not married. The couple separated two years before his death for a variety of reasons.
Inscriptions on the coin are in the Catalan language. It was issued in proof grade only. |
| Mint | unknown |
Mint Mark | No mint mark |
Total Mintage |
1,200
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| Producer | NumisCollect |
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| Obverse | |
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Surrounded by a plain rim, the obverse of the coin shows at its centre the Coat of Arms of the Principality of Andorra consisting of a shield divided quarterly by the arms of the Bishop of Urgell and the Count of Foix - who have historically been the two co-princes of Andorra - in addition to the emblems of Catalonia and the Viscount of Béarn.
The four traditional quarters are (clockwise from top left):
- that of the Bishopric of Urgell, represented by a mitre and a crosier (staff);
- that of Foix, with three vertical stripes;
- that of Béarn, represented by two cows with cow-bells around their necks, walking to left;
- that of Catalonia, with four vertical stripes.
The shield is surrounded by an "aureola". A scroll below it carries the Latin motto VIRTVS VNITA FORTIOR (in modern spelling: "Virtus Unita Fortior"), meaning "United virtue is stronger".
Around above, the inscription PRINCIPAT D' ANDORRA (Principality of Andorra).
Below, divided by the Coat of Arms, the value and denomination 10 D. (Ten Diners).
Around below, the date of issue 2009. |
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| Reverse | |
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Flanked by a five-line staff (musical lines) with G-clefs on each side, the centre of the coin shows two colourised portraits in ovals - Chopin on the left and George Sand on the right. Both paintings are by the famous French artist Eugène Delacroix and are parts of an unfinished double portrait of the couple (the portrait of George Sand has been flipped - as a mirror image - from the original, in order to have her look at him on the coin).
Around above, in large letters, the name of the musician in Catalan: FRYDERYK CHOPIN; below that in smaller letters GEORGE SAND. Below that, a Swarovski crystal has been inset into the coin.
Around below the portraits, MALLORCA 1838. |
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| Reverse Inscription |
FRYDERYK CHOPIN GEORGE SAND MALLORCA 1838 |
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| Edge | Milled | Edge Inscription | None |
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| Included in Set |
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Frédéric Chopin Anniversary 1810 - 1849 (Life of Chopin), mintage 1,200, limited to 1,810
8 coins: 10 D. Warsaw 1821, 10 D. Vienna 1829, 10 D. Paris 1832, 10 D. Dresden 1836, 10 D. Mallorca 1838, 10 D. - Paris 1848, 10 D. - Paris 1849, 10 D. Warsaw 1849
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