2024 Austria 25€ The Living Soil Silver & Niobium Proof Coin

The Austrian Mint’s 2024 Silver Niobium coin brilliantly illustrates the vibrant world beneath our feet. A world on which we depend but are barely even aware of, the Edaphon is as diverse as a rainforest and is both the foundation of our existence and the key to our planet’s future.

A collective term that encompasses all living organisms present in soil; the Edaphon is a meaningful chaos built by living creatures that results in growth and gives rise to new life. The soil teems with ants, beetles and earthworms, but the human eye does not see the inconspicuous army of microorganisms that lies within.

The obverse of Edaphon shows the five factors that contribute to the development of soil: time, mineral material, climate, soil organisms (in the niobium core) and the relief of the landscape (in the outer silver ring). In the centre are the roots of a plant, its leaves protruding into the silver ring. The coin’s reverse features a mole at the top, an earthworm on the left, a snail at the bottom and an ant on the right. The niobium core shows a leaf on top and three other important organisms below: a fungal mycelium on the left, a beetle on the right and an earthworm above it.

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