Latvia mints a fusion-themed coin
Last week, ITER Plant Installation Program Manager Bertrand Roques brought back a small but highly symbolic contribution to the ITER budget from a colloquium in Riga, Latvia—a 5-euro fusion-themed coin.
Issued on 26 September by the central bank of the small Baltic nation, the pure silver coin features a deuterium and a tritium nucleus along with a neutron and helium nucleus resulting from the fusion process on one side; on the other, an arrangement of lines evocative of a "stylized cross-section of a toroidal fusion reactor" is featured.
The "energy coin" was offered to ITER on the occasion of a colloquium on fusion energy, jointly organized by the University of Latvia and Latvijas Banka. Designed by world-renowned graphic artist Germans Ermičs, the coin is "dedicated to the role of science in our lives and the scientists' persistence in seeking answers to questions about the future of humanity."
The bank minted 3,000 coins, which can be purchased for EUR 77.00 on the central bank's website. They are already selling at more than EUR 100 in numismatic stores.