Cook Islands – 2013 – 5 Dollars – Albrecht Dürer RHINOCEROS (including box) (PROOF)

Description

Metal: .925 Silver
Weight: 20g
Size: 38.61 mm
Mintage: 2500 pcs

Old master prints unite creativity and craftsmanship in a brilliant manner. The beautiful art of minting coins is in no way inferior to them. This silver edition with etched copper inlay shows this very impressively.

The German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a great painter, but also an important engraver. One of his most famous works is the “Rhinoceros“ woodcut. Dürer used an Indian rhinoceros, which the Portuguese King Manuel I. received in 1515 as a gift from India, as his subject. This living Rhino caused a tremendous stir in the Court of Lisbon and far beyond. The exotic animal’s description, along with a rough sketch, reached Nuremberg by mail, and there it inspired Albrecht Dürer for his work – it should be noted that he had never seen such an animal himself.

Dürer’s Rhinoceros woodcut was widely distributed and appeared in several versions. Despite anatomical flaws, it dominated the European image of an Indian Rhinoceros for centuries and has remained popular up until today.