Atomium - Brussels, Belgium
Posted by: Metro2
N 50° 53.678 E 004° 20.489
31U E 594342 N 5638964
The Atomium was built for the 1958 World's Fair...and appeared on the 2 Euro commemorative coin in 2006.
Waymark Code: WMD67W
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Date Posted: 11/25/2011
Views: 48
This 2006 €2 coin depicts the Atomium on one side and the usual map of Europe with the number "2" on the other side.
The Wikipedia article (
visit link) on €2 commemorative coins has this description:
"The coin shows the Atomium in the centre part, with the mint marks to the lower right and left of it. The designer's initials (LL) are to the left. The letter B for Belgium is written at the top of the outer ring, and the year mark at the bottom; the twelve stars of the European Union are positioned between the year mark and the inscription at the top, in two groups of six stars each."
Wikipedia (
visit link) has this to say about the Atomium:
"The Atomium is a monument in Brussels, originally built for Expo '58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Designed by André Waterkeyn, it stands 102 metres (335 ft) tall. It has nine steel spheres connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.
Tubes connect the spheres along the 12 edges of the cube and all eight vertices to the centre. They enclose escalators connecting the spheres containing exhibit halls and other public spaces. The top sphere provides a panoramic view of Brussels. Each sphere is 18 metres in diameter. Three spheres are currently (2008) closed to visitors, others can be reached easily by escalators. The vertical vertex contains a lift which was very fast and advanced at the time of building (the speed is 5 m/s)."