3000 Francs Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne Collection

"Journey to the Center of the Earth" (Voyage au centre de la Terre, 1864) is one of Jules Verne’s most iconic works, combining 19th-century science with pure adventure. The story begins in Hamburg in 1863, when a mineralogist, Professor Otto Lidenbrock (originally Otto Lidenbrock, sometimes translated as von Lidenbrock), discovers a coded parchment hidden inside a copy of Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson. The message, written in runes by a 16th-century Icelandic alchemist named Arne Saknussemm, points to a path leading to the center of the Earth through the crater of the extinct volcano Sneffels in Iceland.

Lidenbrock embarks on a journey with his nephew Axel (the narrator of the novel) and an Icelandic guide, Hans Bjelke. They travel to Reykjavik and then to Sneffels. On June 28th, they descend into the Scartaris crater, beginning a subterranean expedition that takes them through geological passages and layers of basalt, granite, and limestone, reaching a depth of more than 140 km beneath the Earth’s surface—according to Lidenbrock’s fictional calculations, which are, of course, scientifically inaccurate.

During their journey, they discover an underground sea roughly 80 km wide—later named the Lidenbrock Sea—which they cross on a makeshift raft called Virgil. Along its shores, they encounter massive fossil remains, forests of enormous mushrooms, and prehistoric creatures such as the ichthyosaurus and plesiosaurus—creatures drawn from 19th-century paleontological theory. At one point, they even witness a primitive man living alongside mammoths, blending scientific speculation with imaginative fantasy.

Eventually, after a volcanic eruption, the trio is ejected back to the surface through Mount Stromboli in Italy, on August 27. While they don’t literally reach the Earth’s core, they return with valuable geological and paleontological insights, along with proof that the planet’s interior still holds unknown mysteries.

Though we now know that Verne’s geological concepts were impossible, his work was groundbreaking for the science fiction genre. He seamlessly wove real scientific theories of the time—such as stratigraphy, volcanism, and paleontology—into a thrilling narrative of exploration, making this novel a timeless classic.

The reverse of the coin symbolically portrays many of the novel’s key events—a scene that encapsulates the protagonists’ perilous journey: climbing massive rocks, fleeing from giant creatures attempting to devour them, traversing dark caves, crossing mushroom fields, witnessing dinosaur battles, and rafting across underground seas. It is a coin rich in detail, struck in ultra-high relief and finished with a stunning antique finish that highlights every intricacy. The title of the novel is gilded and appears in the lower left corner.

The obverse illustrates the moment when Professor Lidenbrock dreams aloud of the adventure of a lifetime—his journey to the center of the Earth—sharing the vision with his nephew in a grand mineralogy hall. The scene is filled with colossal mushrooms, dinosaurs, rocks, seas, caves, and a massive erupting volcano destroying everything in sight. This side of the coin also includes the face value, issuing country, year of issue, weight, metal, and purity. Finished in the same antique style, the obverse reveals every detail with precision, enhanced by full-color lava and volcanic explosions for a dramatic and vivid effect.