02 February 2024
|
The Croatian Mint has released a new coin called the ‘Trsat Dragon’.
This coin is inspired by the Trsat Dragons, or basilisks, which are a pair of bronze sculptures created in the first half of the 19th century for the Austrian field marshal, Count Laval Nugent, who was born in County Wicklow but served in the Austrian army.
FREE 50p Checklist!
Claim your free 50p checklist, including values and mintage figures, when you sign up to receive the All About Coins newsletter. Sign up today!
Mythical creatures with the head of a rooster, the body of a dragon and the tail of a snake, the Trsat Dragons guard the entrance to Trsat Castle above Rijeka; a Croatian port city on Kvarner Bay in the northern Adriatic Sea.
Contrary to many legends, in Rijeka’s folk tradition, the Trsat dragons are not evil creatures that sow terror among the people. According to a local legend, a dragon saved a young girl from a giant octopus that lived in the nearby bay and then fled the area to avoid contact with people. To keep alive the memory of the creature, a stature was then erected at the entrance to the castle.
The new issue appears in two variants, as a 1oz gold ‘Trsatski zmaj’, with a nominal value of €100 in a limited series of 100, and as a 1oz silver ‘Trsatski zmaj’, with a nominal value €4 in a series of 5,000.
