A rare coin that can be used as a camera lens is for sale in Belarus. What is it?
A rare coin that can be used instead of a camera lens has been put up for sale in Belarus. A special pinhole camera is also being sold with it, noted the publication Blizko.by.
The coin was issued in 2006 in the Cook Islands to commemorate the 180th anniversary of photography. It is dedicated to the world's first photograph taken from nature. In 1826, the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created a heliograph, which he named "View from the Window at Le Gras". For this, he used a camera obscura and took a picture from the window of his workshop at the Gras estate in the village of Saint-Loup-de-Varennes.
One side of the coin depicts that very view from the window. The other side is almost empty: it features a small portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, an inscription, and the denomination — two dollars. A tiny pinhole is made in the center of the coin.
It is precisely this hole that allows the coin to be used as a lens. When inserted into a camera obscura, light passes through the hole and creates an image on photographic film.
The set includes a camera obscura with an individual number, a tripod, a roll of Agfa photographic film, and a certificate of authenticity.
A total of 2500 such sets were issued. The coin is made of .925 silver, has a diameter of 30 millimeters, and contains 10 grams of pure silver. It is preserved in Proof condition — the highest collectible minting quality.
The lot was put up for sale for 880 rubles, which is approximately 294 dollars according to the official exchange rate of the National Bank of Belarus. The seller warns that the photographic film is already 20 years old, so its original characteristics may have changed.
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