San Marino

2005

Commemorative coin

World Year of Physics

Official Journal of the European Union

On the inner part of the coin is a free interpretation of the allegorical painting known as ‘la fisica antica’ or the study of the planets, depicting Galileo Galilei. The year of mintage appears in the illustration on a desk underneath a globe. To the left of the image is the mintmark ‘R’. The engraver's initials ‘LDS’ appear on the right hand side. The word ‘San Marino’ forms a quasi-semicircle along the upper edge of the inner part, while the words ‘ANNO MONDIALE DELLA FISICA’ run along the lower edge of the inner part. The twelve stars of the European Union are depicted on the outer ring. Between the stars appear parts of a stylised atom which covers the entire coin.

Additional information

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian universal scholar - philosopher, mathematician, engineer, physicist, astronomer and cosmologist. He developed the method of exploring nature through a combination of experiments, measurements and mathematical analysis, and thus became one of the most important founders of the modern exact natural sciences. As he advocated the Copernican world view, the Catholic Church conducted an inquisition trial against him in 1632 and forced him to recant. The coin is a free interpretation of the relief La fisica antica (The ancient physics) or The Study of the Planets, created around 1335 by Andrea Pisano for Giotto's bell tower in Florence, and shows Galileo with his telescopes, 90 and 130 cm long, built in 1609. [45] In the background a stylised atom is represented by six electrons and their circular orbits, which reach up to between the European stars.

Edge lettering

Designer