Autriche - 25 Euro Silver Niob BU, 50 years of Television, 2005

Without doubt one of the most influential of all inventions, television has dominated people’s lives for more than half a century. Considered something of a classic of retro design in Austria today, the original 1950s Austrian TV test card, used for calibration and focusing at the beginning and end of the broadcasting day, features on the purple niobium core of the coin’s obverse. The country of origin and face value are shown in its outer silver ring. Milestones in the history of television, ranging from an analogue fifties TV set to contemporary digital satellite dishes, are depicted in the silver ring on the coin’s reverse, as is the inscription “50 years of television” in German. An old fashioned TV antenna superimposed over the European section of the globe is depicted in the niobium core.