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Long SOLD OUT at the Mint!

This SCENTED coin with color features the aroma of fresh pine trees, a splendid railroad scene, and a very low mintage limit, too!

Join us on a fabulous railway adventure, one not just of sight but also of smell! Just in time for the holidays, this exquisitely engraved railway-themed coin features a locomotive pulling boxcars and passenger cars through a landscape of pine or fir trees. The ultimate symbol of the holidays, the Christmas tree, graces this coin in both majestic full color as well as with its distinctive, sweetly aromatic balsam scent!

In a phenomenal perspective rendering, a railroad train pulled by a locomotive engine emerges from behind a full-height pine tree, while a pine bough hangs in the foreground. The pines are highlighted in color against a backdrop of a meticulously engraved landscape, with the locomotive smoke billowing skyward.

The Christmas Pine Tree is the second release in the new Famous Plants of the World coin series. This revolutionary program will feature some of best known vegetation from around the world, but with a most interesting twist - not only will each proof coin feature a color version of the plant, the coin will be scented to smell like the plant it honors! That's right, each coin will have the aroma of (smell like) its namesake! Couple the scent of this bouquet with its extremely affordable price and tiny worldwide mintage of only 2,500, and you can see why we like this coin!

Scent Note—We've been asked if one has to handle the coin to enjoy its bouquet. Quite simply, no! Although the phrase "scratch and sniff" is well known, it is not necessary to touch the colored areas of this coin in order to smell the aroma. One need only open the capsule and the fragrance can be distinctly detected!

Please see the articles at the end of this presentation for more information about the origin, history and legends of the Christmas Tree, as well as background on the Republic of Benin.

Technology Note—Aroma
This revolutionary coin is the second in the new, scented Famous Plants of the World series. Each coin will feature the aroma of the plant in questions. Each fragrance has been developed by a professional perfumer (parfumier) using a chemical formula to replicate or reproduce the odor of the famous plant in question. The scent is of the scratch and sniff variety, but nevertheless can be distinctly detected without resorting to actually touching the coin.

So whether you have a critical eye for bargain priced, investment grade coins, or you're just a railroad enthusiast, don't delay, add this special, low mintage scented coin to your collection today!

Obverse
In a phenomenal perspective rendering, a railroad train pulled by a locomotive engine emerges from behind a full-height pine tree, while a pine bough hangs in the foreground. The pines are highlighted in color against a backdrop of a meticulously engraved landscape, with the locomotive smoke billowing skyward. The legends FAMEUSES PLANTES DU MONDE and ABIES NUMIDICA define the theme, while the date is also indicated.

Reverse
A meticulously detailed rendering of the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Benin, which includes two leopards as supporters. The denomination also appears.

Packaging
The coin is encapsulated and includes an official, full color, individually numbered certificate of authenticity.

Origins, History and Legends of the Christmas Tree
The Egyptians were part of a long line of cultures that treasured and worshiped evergreens. When the winter solstice arrive, they brought green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolize life's triumph over death. The Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a fest called Saturnalia in honor of Saturnus, the god of agriculture. They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. They gave coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness, and lamps to light one's journey through life.

Centuries ago in Great Britain, woods priests called Druids used evergreens during mysterious winter solstice rituals. The Druids used holly and mistletoe as symbols of eternal life, and place evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits. Late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring. Our modern Christmas tree evolved from these early traditions.

Legend has it that Martin Luther began the tradition of decorating trees to celebrate Christmas. One crisp Christmas Eve, about the year 1500, he was walking through snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of a group of small evergreens. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moonlight. When he got home, he set up a little fir tree indoors so he could share this story with his children. He decorated it with candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ's birth.

The Christmas tree tradition most likely came to the United States with Hessian troops during the American Revolution, or with German immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio. But the custom spread slowly. The Puritans banned Christmas trees in New England. Even as late as 1851, a Cleveland minister nearly lost his job because he allowed a tree in his church. Schools in Boston stayed open on Christmas Day through 1870, and sometimes expelled students who stayed home.

The Christmas tree market was born in 1851 when Catskill farmer Mark Carr hauled two ox sleds of evergreens into New York City and sold them all. By 1900, one in five American families had a Christmas tree, and 20 years later, the custom was nearly universal. Christmas tree farms sprang up during the depression. Nurserymen couldn't sell their evergreens for landscaping, so they cut them for Christmas trees. Cultivated trees were preferred because they have a more symmetrical shape then wild ones.

Six species account for about 90 percent of the nation's Christmas tree trade. Scotch pine ranks first, comprising about 40 percent of the market, followed by Douglas fir which accounts for about 35 percent. The other big sellers are noble fir, white pine, balsam fir and white spruce.

The Republic of Benin
Benin (officially, the Republic of Benin; formerly known as Dahomey) is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north; its short coastline in the south leads to the Bight of Benin. Its size is just over 110,000 square kilometers, with a population of about 8.5 million. Its official capital is the Yoruba-founded city of Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is the Fon city of Cotonou. Benin's official language is French, reflecting its colonial history.

A democratic government between 1960 and 1972 was followed by a self-proclaimed "Marxist-Leninist" dictatorship between 1972 and 1991, which was highly repressive and led to economic collapse. Multi-party elections have taken place since 1991. About a third of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day. Main income sources are subsistence agriculture and cotton.