Gold coin Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - The Hanging Gardens of Babylon 1 oz - proof

Seven wonders of the ancient world
The second of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The legendary monument is commemorated by a gold coin of the Czech Mint weighing one troy ounce.

There are several legends about how the Hanging Gardens of Babylon came into being. It is possible that they were built by the mythical Semiramis, the queen who made Babylon the largest and most magnificent metropolis of antiquity. Another legend claims that they were a gift from King Nebuchadnezzar II to Queen Amytis, who longed for the mountainous nature of her homeland. Delicate flowers and massive trees grew on the stepped terraces of the hanging gardens that rose high into the sky. This was made possible by an ingenious irrigation system consisting of an extensive network of pipes, high wells and spiral pumps, through which workers constantly drew water from the Euphrates. The gardens provided a cool refuge from the scorching heat of the Babylonian sun and were therefore visited by many people. However, few records of them survive - it is not even certain that an earthly paradise in the middle of the desert really existed...

The reverse side of the coin, which is the work of the medal maker Petra Brodská, DiS., presents a supposed image of hanging gardens with a number of terraces, columns, trees and waterfalls. The English inscription states THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON. The obverse side, which is common to the whole cycle, then presents all seven wonders of the world - the Egyptian pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse on the island of Faro. As the coins of the Czech Mint are issued with the foreign licence of the island of Niue, they also bear the portrait and name of Queen Elizabeth II, the nominal value of 50 DOLLARS (NZD) and the year of issue 2021 on the obverse side.

The schedule of issuance includes only 200 pieces of one-ounce coins.