UNESCO World Heritage – Caves of Slovak Karst
€100 gold collector coin
The Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst were approved for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995 on the basis of a joint Slovak-Hungarian nomination proposal. In 2000 the site was extended to include Dobšinská Ice Cave situated in the Slovak Paradise (Slovenský raj) National Park. The subterranean formations of the Slovak Karst are outstanding for their extraordinary compositional and morphological diversity, multiplicity of flowstone formations, and valuable biological and archaeological treasures. The site includes many exemplary dripstone formations. Also noteworthy are the unique straw stalactites of Gombasecká Cave, some of which are up to three metres long, as well as the Domica Cave’s flowstone formations (known as ‘shields’ and ‘drums’) and the remarkable aragonite structures of Ochtinská Aragonite Cave. No other temperate-zone cave system in the world features such complexity.
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Description of the coin
Obverse:
The obverse design captures the essence of cave formation by showing the surface of a small cave lake and ripples caused by water dripping from a stalactite. Positioned prominently in the upper and right side of the design is a depiction of the white cave-dwelling crustacean Niphargus aggtelekiensis, its shape mirroring the outer ripples. The Slovak coat of arms appears at the bottom centre, and to the left of it is the name of issuing country SLOVENSKO inscribed in semi-circle along the edge. The year of issuance 2017 is shown next to the edge. At the top of the design are the stylized letters RL, the initials of the designer, Roman Lugár, and the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint MK.Reverse:
The reverse of the coin shows a bat flying in front of the Rožňava Cavers´ Dripstone in Krásnohorská Cave. The coin´s denomination 100 euro appears in two lines above the bat. Along the edge of the design are inscriptions JASKYNE SLOVENSKÉHO KRASU (Caves of Slovak Karst) and SVETOVÉ PRÍRODNÉ DEDIČSTVO (World Natural Heritage).
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Coin details
Designer: Roman Lugár Composition: .900 gold, .75 silver, .25 copper Weight: 9.5 g Diameter: 26 mm Edge: milled Producer: Kremnica Mint Engraver: Dalibor Schmidt Issuing volume: 4,250 in proof quality Issuing date: 15 November 2017