Richard the Lionheart Silver Commemorative Coin

The Austrian Mint will issue the second coin in its €10 silver commemorative coin series “Tales and Legends in Austria.” The latest coin’s theme will be the captivity of King Richard I on his on his homeward journey from the Third Crusade in 1192, and the legend of his loyal friend and troubadour who is said to have discovered the castle in which the king was being held.

Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned by Duke Leopold in the castle of Dürnstein on the River Danub. While the terms of his random were being negotiated, the King’s companion, troubadour or minstrel Blondel, set out to find him. Blondel travelled through southern Germany and down the Danube singing beneath the walls of each castle he encountered. At last under the walls of Durnstein, he recognized the king’s voice answering his song. Richard was alive and in Dürnstein. He charged Blondel to spread word of his captivity back to England. Some versions of the legend even maintain that Blondel sought to help him escape.

The €10 silver coin depicts Blondel on horseback beneath the castle of Dürnstein, strumming his mandolin and singing. The reverse of the coin depicts the seizure of Richard the Lionheart in the kitchen of the inn at Erdberg. Leopold and two soldiers apprehend him despite his disguise as a kitchen help tending a roast chicken. Beneath the pilgrim’s cloak he wears, can be seen the three lions of England emblazoned on his chest.

The coins are struck in 92.5% fine silver. The maximum mintages are 40,000 pieces in proof, 30,000 pieces in spcial uncirculated quality, and 130,000 in circulation quality issued at face value though banks. in the kitchen of the inn at Erdberg. Leopold and two soldiers apprehend him despite his disguise as a kitchen help tending a roast chicken. Beneath the pilgrim’s cloak he wears, can be seen the three lions of England emblazoned on his chest.

[Online: Austrian Mint Product Page]