July 19, 2012 – The Royal Dutch Mint strikes the first coin with Augmented Reality! The coin features the Aruban burrowing owl, lovingly called ‘Shoco’ by the inhabitants of Aruba, which has been announced to be the nations national symbol. The Central Bank of Aruba is issuing a 5 Florin silver coin in honour of this event.
The Royal Dutch Mint is delighted to design and strike this coin with very special feature which makes this coin the first Augmented Reality coin in the world!
The new shoco coin featuring the layar technology.
Because of the beauty of the ‘Shoco’ owl and its rareness, the Royal Dutch Mint is striking this coin in Sterling silver, the ‘Shoco’ design is in color and the Coat of Arms is in Minted Photo Image (MPI) technique. The uniqueness of this coin is found in the added layer of Augmented Reality through which anyone with a Smartphone can discover the world of the ‘Shoco’.
The Aruba Burrowing Owl is called ‘Shoco’ on Aruba. The little owl is endemic (Athene cunicularia arubensis) and only exists on Aruba. It is a rare small bird of prey of only twenty centimeters high, which digs holes underground for nesting. The Aruba burrowing owl has remarkable long legs and big yellow eyes. Special about the Aruba burrowing owl – also called rabbit owl – is that it hunts both during the day and at night, its diet consists of insects, small rodents, little lizards and small birds. Unfortunately the owl is being threatened by tourism and Boa Constrictors. Estimation is that only 200 pairs of Owls exist in the Aruban nature. The people of Aruba are very proud of their Shoco and its picture predicted on many objects on the island, like banknotes an d stamps. On the 23rd of January 2012 the ‘Shoco’ was pronounced national symbol of Aruba.
From the release date August the 1st 2012 the coin can be scanned through a Smartphone and (following the instructions on the Certificate of Authenticity) the beholder can enter the world of the ‘Shoco’. The world-wide mintage is limited to 2,500 coins. For this you need to download the latest version on the Layar application, this is free. Open the Layar application. Scan the coin, tap to view and the buttons with your next options will appear.
Please note that you can only scan the coin itself and it will only be active from the 1st of August onwards.
Each coin is fitted in a handsome presentation box and has a Certificate of Authenticity with more background information about the ‘Shoco’ and a user’s guide to the Augmented Reality feature.
For more information on the Central Bank of Aruba, please click here.
More information on the coin and other products are available on the website of the Royal Dutch Mint.
If you are interested in this fascinating new technology you should visit the Layar website.
To see the shoco in action – without having bought the coin, take a look at this youtube video clip.