SWISSMINT SELLS OUT OF SMALLEST COIN

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V23 2020 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 23, Number 4, January 26, 2020, Article 26

SWISSMINT SELLS OUT OF SMALLEST COIN

Nothing grabs attention better than superlatives. That first sentence may be a lie, but who wants to read about the third best this or the seventh largest that? News stories thst grow legs and spread often have headlines touting the first-ever or largest-ever whatever. This week in numismatics the story with legs was headlined "World's smallest coin". To prove the point, before I had a chance to share the story, Numismatic News reported on Saturday that the issue had already sold out.

Here's an excerpt from just one of the articles (Daily Mail) going around about this neat little Swiss coin. -Editor

Switzerland has minted a gold coin so small that a magnifying glass is needed to see each side - one of which shows Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue.

State-owned Swissmint said that the 0.12-inches (2.96-millimetre) gold coin is the smallest in the world. It is similar in size to the combined thickness of two pieces of paper.

The coin weighs just 1/500th of an ounce (0.063 grams) and has a nominal value of 1/4 Swiss francs (about 20p). Its weight is comparable to that of two grains of rice.

Swissmint said the coin, of which just 999 have been made, will be sold for 199 francs (£155) with a special magnifying glass so owners can see the famous physicist on its face.

The famous image of Einstein sticking out his tongue was taken on his 72nd birthday on March 14, 1951.

United Press photographer Arthur Sasse was trying to persuade him to smile for the camera, but having smiled for photographers many times that day, the scientist stuck out his tongue instead.

Swissmint said it wanted to push boundaries with the coin and stretch the limits of technology and achieve something unique.

Einstein lived mainly in Switzerland from 1895 to 1914, where he also completed his studies in 1900, at today's ETH in Zurich.

To read the Numismatic News article, see:
Smallest Gold Coin in the World Sold Out (https://www.numismaticnews.net/article/smallest-gold-coin-in-the-world-sold-out)

Thanks to readers Dick Hanscom, Chip Howell, Aaron Oppenheim, David Pickup and others for passing this along. -Editor

To read other articles, see:
Switzerland unveils world's smallest coin measuring 0.12 inches, weighing one 500th of an ounce and showing Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue (if you've got a magnifying glass!) (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7920215/Switzerland-unveils-worlds-smallest-coin-measuring-0-12-inches-weighing-one-500th-ounce.html)
Albert Einstein coin is the smallest of its kind (https://www.foxnews.com/world/albert-einstein-coin-smallest-of-its-kind)
Switzerland Mints World’s Smallest Gold Coin (https://www.snopes.com/ap/2020/01/23/switzerland-mints-worlds-smallest-gold-coin/)

Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum

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