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2016 Northern Sky Cygnus $5 Silver Domed Coin

$220.00 AUD

Availability: 1 in stock

SKU: 2016NORTHERNSKYCYGNUSCOIN Category:
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RAM’s 2016 $5 Cygnus Curved 1 ounce silver proof coin is finally here and brings to conclusion the series for Northern Sky coins.

The series is extremely popular not just on the Australian market but with collectors across the world, particularly in the huge European and North American markets.

The third coin of a three-coin series featuring the Northern Sky constellations sees this high quality, beautiful, silver proof coin making its debut.

Following Cassiopeia and Ursa Major, the final Northern Sky coin features Cygnus, one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn skies.

In contrast to the Crux constellation of the south, Cygnus includes the Northern Cross and was one of the 48 constellations identified by 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy.

Cygnus appears in the shape of a swan, of which there were many legendary examples in Greek mythology, from King Cygnus to Orpheus and even Zeus himself.

This nine-star constellation is most visible in the evenings from early summer to mid-autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

This coin series has only half the mintage of the original series. With only 5,000 examples available world-wide it literally flew off the shelves. Demand was so high that the listing was removed from the Royal Australian Mint e-shop.

One of the world’s hottest numismatic items of 2016 awaits you here. The quality of the packaging and the masterful proof strike of the coin will delight all purchasers.

This unique concave/convex Australian legal tender coin is sure to prove highly sought after.

Comes with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity and original packaging with a Royal Australian Mint clam style case. Certificate number may vary from that shown.

See our full listing of Royal Australian Mint silver coins here.

SKU

Design

2016 Northern Sky Cygnus $5 Silver Domed Coin
Denomination: $5
Metal:              Silver Ag
Diameter:        39.62 mm
Mass:             1 ounce
Finish:            Coloured Print Proof
Mintage:         5,000

Obverse:   The Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II along with the date.

Reverse:   The reverse design of the coin is color printed on a concave surface, which provides a fabulous display of the Cygnus constellation framed within a compass designed border, as seen from the northern hemisphere against a background of blue and green. Designed by B. King.

History

Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the Milky Way, deriving its name from the Latinized Greek word for swan. The swan is one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, and it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross (in contrast to the Southern Cross). Cygnus was among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations.

Cygnus contains Deneb, one of the brightest stars in the night sky and one corner of the Summer Triangle, as well as some notable X-ray sources and the giant stellar association of Cygnus OB2. One of the stars of this association, NML Cygni, is one of the largest stars currently known. The constellation is also home to Cygnus X-1, a distant X-ray binary containing a supergiant and unseen massive companion that was the first object widely held to be a black hole. Many star systems in Cygnus have known planets as a result of the Kepler Mission observing one patch of the sky, the patch is the area around Cygnus. In addition, most of the eastern part of Cygnus is dominated by the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, a giant galaxy filament that is the largest known structure in the observable universe; covering most of the northern sky.

In Greek mythology, Cygnus has been identified with several different legendary swans. Zeus disguised himself as a swan to seduce Leda, Spartan king Tyndareus’s wife, who gave birth to the Gemini, Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra; Orpheus was transformed into a swan after his murder, and was said to have been placed in the sky next to his lyre (Lyra); and the King Cygnus was transformed into a swan.

The Greeks also associated this constellation with the tragic story of Phaethon, the son of Helios the sun god, who demanded to ride his father’s sun chariot for a day. Phaethon, however, was unable to control the reins, forcing Zeus to destroy the chariot (and Phaethon) with a thunderbolt, causing it to plummet to the earth into the river Eridanus. According to the myth, Phaethon’s brother, Cycnus, grieved bitterly and spent many days diving into the river to collect Phaethon’s bones to give him a proper burial. The gods were so touched by Cycnus’s devotion to his brother that they turned him into a swan and placed him among the stars.

In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, there are three people named Cygnus, all of whom are transformed into swans. Alongside Cycnus, noted above, he mentions a boy from Tempe who commits suicide when Phyllius refuses to give him a tamed bull that he demands, but is transformed into a swan and flies away. He also mentions a son of Neptune who is an invulnerable warrior in the Trojan War who is eventually defeated by Achilles, but Neptune saves him by transforming him into a swan.

Together with other avian constellations near the summer solstice, Vultur cadens and Aquila, Cygnus may be a significant part of the origin of the myth of the Stymphalian Birds, one of The Twelve Labours of Hercules.

Taken from Wikipedia for educational purposes only.

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