A foal takes its first unsteady steps across a spring meadow while its mother watches closely: the Easter five euros «Freunde fürs Leben», friends for life, were released on 11 March 2020 for the centenary of the Piber stud.

Piber, in western Styria near Köflach, became the home of Austria’s Lipizzaners in 1920, after the break-up of Austria-Hungary. The stallions born there go on to perform at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, and the coin tells of a bond between people and horses that begins in the first days of life.

Wood anemones and Christmas roses, both spring flowers, bloom at the horses’ feet. The other side carries the nine federal state arms. The designers were Helmut Andexlinger, Kathrin Kuntner and Herbert Wähner; the copper version’s mintage was 200,000.

The coin belongs in a collection of horses on coins and in Austria’s Easter series. Uncirculated: never in circulation, mint lustre intact, the mane and flowers free of wear.

VPcoins is a numismatic shop where coins from many countries are gathered in a single catalogue.