Gold coin Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - The Lighthouse of Alexandria - proof

Seven wonders of the ancient world

The last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The legendary monument is commemorated by a gold coin of the Czech Mint weighing one troy ounce.

Alexandria in Egypt, which bears the name of the legendary Alexander the Great, was the most beautiful city of antiquity - a centre of science, culture and trade. The rich port was also a symbol of the power of the Ptolemies, who were the last pharaonic dynasty. The road to the port, which lay between the mainland and an adjacent island called Faros, was treacherous, therefore, the Ptolemies built a lighthouse that became the seventh wonder of the world. While we do not know exactly what this magnificent tower looked like, we do know that it was the greatest lighthouse of all time. Towering 140 metres high on a rock amidst the waves of the sea, the structure was built of white marble and had three steps, each of which tapered towards the top. The lower part was square - it protected the lighthouse from the sea waves and housed a drinking water reservoir, which was transported to the island by pipeline. The middle part was octagonal - it contained hundreds of rooms with windows from where the sea and stars could be viewed. The upper part was cylindrical - a fire which could be seen from a distance of 57 kilometres burned in it day and night. At the very top of the lighthouse was a statue representing the Greek sun god Helios or one of the Ptolemaic gods. The construction of the tower, designed by the architect Sostratos, was meticulous. It withstood fires and earthquakes and took a thousand years to fully succumb to the ravages of time…

The reverse side of the coin, which is the work of the medal maker Petra Brodská, DiS., presents a supposed image of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, supplemented with the English inscription THE LIGHTHOUSE OF ALEXANDRIA. The obverse side, which is common to the entire cycle, then presents all seven wonders of the world - the Egyptian pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. As the coins of the Czech Mint are issued with the foreign license of the island of Niue, they also bear its national emblem, the nomial value of 50 DOLLARS (NZD) and the year of issue 2023 on the obverse side.

The mintage is only 200 pieces of one-ounce coins.