In former times people
often saw water sprites like mermen near Lake
Leopoldstein. They believed a merman possessed great treasures and
therefore wanted to capture one.
Meat and wine were placed at the
waterside and the merman came out of his grotto, ate, drank and fell
asleep. They quickly caught him up in a tarcovered coat and carried him
down to the valley.
To the joy of his captors, the merman promised great riches in exchange
for his freedom. He said: “Gold will last but a short time,
silver not
long either, but iron will last you forever.”
They
immediately cried:
“We want the iron!” The merman pointed to the
mountain now called
Erzberg: “This mountain will supply you with iron forever
more.”
In
truth the Erzberg has proven one of Styria’s greatest
blessings.
The
obverse depicts a mining scene in the Middle Ages. A miner pushes a
carload of ore out of the mineshaft, while another breaks up the ore
with a pick and hammer. In the background can be seen the mountain of
Erzberg in Styria.
The reverse side shows the scene in the
legend where the two men creep up to capture the sleeping merman in the
tar-covered coat.
