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Disasters on coins

Started by FosseWay, April 07, 2011, 10:20:53 AM

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FosseWay

We were discussing industrial infrastructure on coins in another thread. The power station element in that thread, coupled with current events in Japan and my interest in the abandoned town of Pripyat', brought this commemorative to mind:




Ukraine, 200,000 karbovantsiv 1996, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. This is a coin I'd like to get hold of one day because it ties in with another interest.

We're also coming up to the 25th anniversary of the accident, on 26 April.

I know there are plenty of coins commemorating the ends of wars and deliberate atrocities like the Holocaust, Katyn and so on. But are there any others that remember accidents and natural disasters?

bart

Belgium issued a 10 euro coin in 2006 commemorating the mine disaster of 1956 at the Bois du Cazier-mine in Marcinelle. 262 people died in the accident.

Figleaf

Some of the usual suspects (Kiribati, Liberia, Somalia, Turks & Caicos) did a series of pseudo issues on the Titanic. Others (Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Isle of Man, Liberia, Spanish Sahara) showed the Graf Zeppelin on "coins". A somewhat more credible commemorative with the Zeppelin was issued by Germany (1930.) The UK recently issued a piece for the Mary Rose. Alderney followed suit. Surprisingly, no one thought of issuing a coin for the Wasa. There were issues for the Pamir, though. Armenia and Russia both commemorated the Spitak earthquake.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

chrisild

The 1930 Zeppelin coin I would not include here, as it commemorates the 1929 flight around the world, not any disaster. But if we talk about flying, well, Poland just issued a series of coins commemorating the Smolensk plane crash one year ago. Here is the 2 zl coin (left), and one of the 10 zl pieces (center and right):



Christian

FosseWay

For a similar reason to that given by Christian in respect of the Graf Zeppelin, I don't think the UK Mary Rose coin counts here. The coin isn't commemorating the sinking (it shows the ship in its pre-sinking completeness and the date isn't an obvious anniversary of the event, for example) but rather the fact of the ship's existence, regardless of how, when or whether it met its end.

The Smolensk coins definitely qualify, though.

I wonder whether the UK will issue a Titanic commemorative next year...

Ukrainii Pyat

Quote from: FosseWay on April 10, 2011, 02:49:12 PM

I wonder whether the UK will issue a Titanic commemorative next year...

The UK?  It would be considered cheesy.  But for Somaliland, Liberia, E. Dogchit, it is par for the course and I am sure they are already working up designs for them.
Донецк Украина Donets'k Ukraine

Coinsforever

In my opinion : The theme of  these coins reminds us about "Safety first" motto ..................... but control against  natural calamities & mother nature is difficult phenomenon.

May be the cause of accidents differ on each event depicting disasters  , one common thing in all the cases irrespective of country , location , nationalities , races, religions ...........

Loss of human life.

Cheers ;D
Every experience, good or bad, is a priceless collector's item.



http://knowledge-numismatics.blogspot.in/

translateltd

Here are a couple of Australasian disasters on medals - the sinking of the Wahine inter-island ferry at the entrance to Wellington harbour in 1968, and the fifth anniversary (why? other than a convenient excuse for a medal?) of the HMAS Voyager disaster in 1964:


translateltd

and obverses:


chrisild

Quote from: Saor Alba on April 10, 2011, 03:03:31 PM
The UK?  It would be considered cheesy.  But for Somaliland, Liberia, E. Dogchit, it is par for the course and I am sure they are already working up designs for them.

Not too cheesy for Alderney, it seems. 8) This piece, face value £5, can be had in Cu-Ni and in silver:

(Ag, proof) http://www.royalmint.com/store/WorldSilver/TT12SP.aspx
(Cu-Ni, unc) http://www.royalmint.com/store/WorldBase/TT12BU.aspx

Christian

chrisild

And of course the theme is not too cheesy for the Canadian Mint either. A colored quarter, a mildly colored 50c piece (silver-plated), and a silver $10 piece.

Christian

Bimat

Fiji $10 (2013): 1980 disaster (explosion of Mount St. Helens in southern Washington)

Commemorating 33th anniversary of disaster is a strange idea indeed... ;)

Aditya

(Image Source: here)
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.

chrisild

Don't think that the piece commemorates any anniversary. It is basically a theme coin (Volcanoes - Breath of Fire) issue ...

Christian

SquareEarth

Does man-made disasters belong here?
Ukraine, 5 Hryvnia, 2007, Ukrainian Famine
Tong Bao_Tsuho_Tong Bo_Thong Bao

Gusev

Quote from: SquareEarth on August 08, 2013, 07:34:06 PM
Does man-made disasters belong here?
Ukraine, 5 Hryvnia, 2007, Ukrainian Famine
This is not a man-made catastrophe. It was a genocide against the ordinary people in the Soviet Union.

The Holodomor ("Extermination by hunger" derived from "to kill by starvation") was a famine in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1932 and 1933 that killed about 4 million Ukrainians. During the famine, which is also known as the "Terror-Famine in Ukraine" and "Famine-Genocide in Ukraine", millions of citizens of the Ukrainian SSR, the majority of whom were Ukrainians, died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of Ukraine.
Since 2006, the Holodomor has been recognized by the independent Ukraine and several other countries as a genocide of the Ukrainian people.
"Those at the top of the mountain didn't fall there."- Marcus Washling.