Silver coin CERN

CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics) is the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. Founded in 1954 and based in Geneva, on the French-Swiss border, CERN is an international organisation with 24 member states. Its mission is to explore the fundamental laws of the universe by studying the smallest constituents of matter, particles.

The special silver coin highlights a flagship machine of CERN, a cutting-edge tool for research and innovation in Switzerland. The CERN’s LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is the world’s largest particle accelerator. This ring, with a circumference of 27 km, accelerates protons to a speed close to that of light before causing them to collide. The analysis of these collisions provides a deeper understanding of the fundamental structure of matter and how the Universe works. The obverse of the coin depicts one of these collisions, which generate a multitude of particles, some of which were present at the very beginning of the Universe, just after the Big Bang. The reverse depicts a magnet from the Large Hadron Collider. These superconducting magnets are technological marvels. They generate very powerful magnetic fields to guide and concentrate the particle beams in the ring.

The special coin «Cern» is made of silver and weighs 20g. The face value of CHF 20 is shown on the reverse. The coin is issued in a mintage of 3’500 pieces in the quality «Proof» in presentation case and 7’500 pieces uncirculated in the blister.