Hanukka Lamp (″Hanukkiya″) from Poland

Hanukka Lamp from Poland
Hanukka Coin, 5742-1981

The sixteenth in the Hanukka coin series was issued to commemorate the Polish Jewish communities, destroyed in the holocaust.
The Polish Jewish community was among the oldest in Europe, approximately one thousand years old. A people which experienced periods of suffering and riots over the centuries, increased in number to become the largest Jewish community in the world.
The Hanukka coin of 1981 was struck in memory of the Polish Jews, and depicts a 19th century lamp, a period when Jewish silver and goldsmiths flourished.

Obverse:
Face value " 1 Sheqel" in Hebrew and above it, the Israel State Emblem. Around the upper right border, the word "Israel" in Hebrew, Arabic and English, in the left-hand border, the mint year "5742-1981".

Reverse:
A 60cm high 1854 silver Hanukka lamp, adorned by a swan at the top of the central stem and beneath it, a sculpted flower, around the lower border, inscription in Hebrew "Hanukka Lamp from Poland, 19th Century".

Edge:
On the B.U. coin the edge is smooth; the proof, milled.

Mint Marks:
On the reverse of the B.U. coin, a Star of David, on the reverse of the proof coin, the Hebrew letter "Mem", in the lower border, to the left.

Designer:
Nathan Karp.

Mint:
B.U. Coin - Monnaie de Paris, Proof - Stuttgart Mint.