Celebrating the official discovery of Arctic archipelago Franz Joseph Land by Austro-Hungarian explorers in 1873, as well as the opening of the new polar bear enclosure of the same name at Vienna Zoo, Arctic Adventure is the latest superbly crafted 5 euro silver coin from the Austrian Mint. It is said that every picture tells a story, but few coins bring history to life as convincingly as this.

The reign of long-serving Emperor Franz Joseph I was a time of great innovation and discovery. Tasked with finding the Northeast Passage and reaching the North Pole, the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition set sail on the Admiral Tegetthoff in summer 1872, but the ship became trapped in pack ice for several weeks during which it came across the archipelago. With characteristic detail, this scene forms the background to the reverse of this intrepid 5 euro silver coin. The world’s largest land predator, the fearsome polar bear, features in the foreground along with its cute and cuddly cub, whose acquaintance can now be made at the world’s oldest zoo.

Designed by Thomas Pesendorfer and Helmut Andexlinger, and minted to a maximum of 50,000 pieces in Special Uncirculated quality only, each piece comes in a blister pack.