Romeo and Juliet, 1 Dollar, Series: Famous Love Stories

The Mint of Poland is starting a new series of collector coins, “Famous Love Stories”. The collection will feature those lovers whose feelings were so strong to have completely determined their actions, while being so timeless and universal to be remembered forever. Many of these couples, including Romeo and Juliet, to whom the first coin is dedicated, have become the archetypes of romantic love. The series will feature mythological, literary and historical figures and characters, and through their stories, the various feelings and attributes of love: dedication, devotion, passion, longing and pain. The upcoming coins will feature various lovers including Samson and Delilah, Paris and Helen .

The series becomes additionally numismatically attractive through a low mintage – up to 9,000 pieces, and a lettered edge.

Obverse:
In the central part of the coin – the likeness of Anteros, designed based on the Piccadilly Circus memorial in London, also known as the Angel of Christian Charity. Anteros, the younger brother of Eros, was the god of requited and fulfilled love, but also the avenger of scorned and unrequited love. Along the edge, at the bottom, to the left, the inscription: “Niue Island”, and at the bottom, to the right: “1 Dollar, 2010”.

Reverse:
In the central part of the coin – the portrait of Romeo and Juliet, looking at each other. The composition is complemented with a renaissance ornament, a delicate flower as a symbol of their mutual love and developing beauty. The lettered edge repeats “Romeo • Juliet” three times. The inscriptions are divided by hearts.

Coin designer: Hanna Jelonek

Romeo and Juliet is a Shakespearean drama presenting the tragic love of two young people whose story has become the model for romantic lovers. The piece was written between 1591 and 1595. When writing it, Shakespeare took heavily from the Italian romantic story and delivered to the public in verse in The Tragical Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562) by Arthur Brooke, and retold in prose in Paradise of Pleasure (1582) by William Painter.

The play is generally considered to be one of the best love stories ever written. It tells of the fates of the lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who, except for their love, were separated by everything. Descending from feuding families, the characters’ relationship was condemned to fail. The mysterious chance, secret meetings, and lastly their wedding all contributed to the death of the two lovers. The tragedy is intertwined with the everyday life of the renaissance Verona where love and hate, youth and joy of life, human weaknesses and faults all add to its unique mood.

There have been numerous interpretations and new versions of the play, such as the one published by William Davenant during the rule of the Stuarts. In the 18th century David Garrick removed the scenes he thought to be inappropriate, whereas Jiří Benda, a Czech composer, wrote an opera in which some portions of the story were missing, and added a happy ending. The 19th century shows reinstated the original text and focused on the improved presentation of the realism. In the 20th century the play was used as basis for works such as the musical West Side Story and the film under the original title produced in 1996.