Edelweiss Austria 2 Euro Cent Authentic Coin Money for Jewelry and Craft Making

Edelweiss Austrian Authentic Coin Charm 2 Euro Cent for Jewelry and Craft Making

The front of the coin bears an edelweiss, symbolising a duty to the environment, encircled by the face value, heraldic hatchings representing the Austrian flag and the twelve stars of Europe.

The back of the coin bears a globe, next to the face value, showing Europe in relation to Africa and Asia.

Features
Issuer Austria
Period Second Republic (1945-date)
Type Standard circulation coin
Years 2002-2021
Value 2 Euro Cent
0.02 EUR = 0.023 USD
Currency Euro (2002-date)
Composition Copper plated steel
Weight 3.06 g
Diameter 18.75 mm
Thickness 1.67 mm
Shape Round
Orientation Medal alignment ↑↑
Number N# 58
References KM# 3083, Schön# 278

Wikipedia:
Leontopodium nivale, commonly called edelweiss (German: Alpen-Edelweiß, English pronunciation /ˈeɪdəlvaɪs/ (About this soundlisten)), is a mountain flower belonging to the daisy or sunflower family Asteraceae. The plant prefers rocky limestone places at about 1,800–3,000 metres (5,900–9,800 ft) altitude. It is non-toxic and has been used in traditional medicine as a remedy against abdominal and respiratory diseases. The dense hair appears to protect the plant from cold, aridity, and ultraviolet radiation.[1] It is a scarce, short-lived flower found in remote mountain areas and has been used as a symbol for alpinism, for rugged beauty and purity associated with the Alps and Carpathians, and as a national symbol, especially of Romania, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Switzerland, and South Tyrol. According to folk tradition, giving this flower to a loved one is a promise of dedication.

The flower's common name derives from the German word "Edelweiß", which is a compound of edel "noble" and weiß "white". In Romania it is known as Floare de colț which means Cliffhanger's flower. The flower is referred to as "Stella Alpina" in the Italian speaking Alps and "Étoile des Alpes" in the French Alps, both names meaning "Star of the Alps".

Edelweiß was one of several regional names for the plant and entered wide usage during the first half of the 19th century, in the context of early Alpine tourism.[3] Alternative names include Chatzen-Talpen ("cat's paws"), and the older Wullbluomen ("wool flower", attested in the 16th century).

The scientific name is a latinisation of the Greek leontopódion, "lion's paw".

In the 19th century, the edelweiss became a symbol of the rugged purity of the Alpine region and of its native inhabitants.

The passion for edelweiss, which had previously been neglected, began in the middle of the 19th century. The focus is on an incident from 1856, when the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I went on a mountain hike to the Pasterzen Glacier on the Großglockner with his wife Sissi. There the emperor picked his wife an edelweiss from the steep rock with the words "The first in my life that I picked myself". The affection for edelweiss was a common feature of the famous couple and this well-known story raised people's attention to this alpine plant.

The plant became known as a symbol of the Austrian Empress Elisabeth. A portrait by the painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter painted in 1865 shows Empress Elisabeth with nine artificial edelweiss stars braided in her hair. The jewelry made of precious metal and diamonds was designed in the years after 1850 by the then court and chamber jeweler Alexander Emanuel Köchert. The k. u. k monarchy with the increasing veneration of the empress Sissi more and more romantic myths. Only daring climbers manage to pick an edelweiss. It embodies values such as love, courage, loyalty and community.

With the rise of mountain tourism at the end of the 19th century, the edelweiss became the badge and symbol of alpinists and mountaineers. In order to prevent the extinction of the often picked symbolic species, it was placed under nature protection early on. The edelweiss was soon adopted as a symbol in the logo of numerous alpine clubs and associations. In the Austro-Hungarian Army in particular, the symbolic relationship between defiant, frugal and resilient alpine plants or the required perseverance, agility and cutting edge of the alpine troops was recognized and emphasized and often promoted by badges and designations. The Alpen-Edelweiss was assigned as a badge by Emperor Franz Joseph to troops (three regiments) of the Austro-Hungarian Army intended for use in the mountains. It was worn on the collar of the uniform skirt.

In Berthold Auerbach's novel Edelweiss (1861), the difficulty for an alpinist to acquire an edelweiss flower was exaggerated to the point of claiming: "the possession of one is a proof of unusual daring." This idea at the time was becoming part of the popular mythology of early alpinism. Auerbach's novel appeared in English translation in 1869, prefaced with a quote attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"There is a flower known to botanists, one of the same genus with our summer plant called "Life-Everlasting," a Gnaphalium like that, which grows on the most inaccessible cliffs of the Tyrolese mountains, where the chamois dare hardly venture, and which the hunter, tempted by its beauty, and by his love (for it is immensely valued by the Swiss maidens), climbs the cliffs to gather, and is sometimes found dead at the foot, with the flower in his hand. It is called by botanists the Gnaphalium leontopodium, but by the Swiss Edelweisse, which signifies Noble Purity."