Atlantica - 01.09.2000, Page 11

A T L A N T I C A 9
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FROM HERE AND THERE
P
H
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Here Come
the Vikings
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To mark the 1000-year anniversary of the Viking voyages to North America –
specifically Leifur Eiríksson’s founding of the New World – the US Mint and the
Central Bank of Iceland have issued a Leifur Eiríksson commemorative coin set.
The Leifur Eiríksson Millennium Commemorative Coins mark the first time the
US has ever minted a foreign coin, and these were presented to the public last
summer at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
The coins will be sold either singly, or as sets in a presentation case. Proceeds
from the purchase of the commemorative coins will be allocated to the Leifur
Eiríksson Foundation for the purpose of funding exchanges for students and
professors at universities and colleges in the US and Iceland.
The Vikings are invading New York. It’s true. On
5 October, the replica Viking ship, Íslendingur
(Icelander), ends its four month voyage in NYC,
where First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton is
expected to welcome the captain and crew.
The arrival of the Viking ship sets off an
October of celebratory events, organised by the
Leifur Eiríksson Millennium Commission of
Iceland, that will take place in New York.
Among the highlights is a performance by the
Icelandic Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
on 9 October (the concert is part of a 15-city
North American tour); the opening of the exhi-
bition “Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga” at the
American Museum of Natural History on 17
October; the inauguration of the Scandinavian
House on 18 October, presided over by the
president of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson;
and the presentation of the Northern Lights
Icelandic Film Festival, which runs from 21–29
of October at the Scandinavian House. EW
For more information, log on to
www.leifur-eiriksson.org
Minting History
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