MALACHITE Room Masterpieces in Stone Hermitage 3 Oz Silver Coin 10$ Fiji 2013

The coin obverse features giant atlantes holding up the portico of one of the buildings in the Winter Palace complex. A large insert on the obverse is made of genuine green malachite. The face value of the coin, its issuing country and year as well as the Coat of arms of Fiji are also struck on the obverse. The eye-catching high relief reverse finely depicts the Malachite Room located in the Winter Palace, a part of the Hermitage. Designed by the architect Alexander Briullov in the late 1830s, it's a true gem of interior decoration. The unique embellishment of the room includes columns, pilasters, fire-place trimmings and decorative vases made of malachite in the Russian mosaic technique. The reverse also contains the same malachite insert as that on the obverse as a tribute to the beautiful gemstone used to decorate the room.