2 Vereinsthaler commemorative (1857, Southern Railway)
1857 ・ silver ・ 19th century ・ Vienna
A 2 Vereinsthaler struck in the year of the Vienna Monetary Treaty. It is not a regular circulation coin, but a commemorative for the completion of the Southern Railway, with a lighthouse, a locomotive, and a steamship engraved on the reverse. A unified weight standard and the age of the railway: two major themes of the mid-19th century coexist on this single coin. The specimen pictured is a proof with a mirror finish, showing an iridescent tone from age.