Two years ago steem silver gold community member @sevinwilson had a brilliant idea! He suggested the community should design a one ounce silver round especially for Steemit. Designs were submitted. Votes were cast and the round was made. 1500 were minted and they sold like hot cakes. In 2018 the whole process was repeated. These rounds were specifically designed and selected by community members to capture the spirit of Steemit.
My round features phoenix rising from the ashes. Steem value has been low, hard fork 20 got us down, but as we all keep steeming ahead, the hope is the platform and Steem will rise to bigger and better things.
The words at the top of the round are from Seneca, a Roman philosopher/statesman. Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes homines. In English this translates to:
āAs gold is tempered by fire, so strong men are tempered by suffering". The meaning is that in order to become pure gold, the original gold-bearing ore must go through the tempering process of fire; the analogy being that for a man strong in spirit, adversity and suffering are the tempering agents necessary to refine his character and bring out his true potential. Source
There are currently three designs left in the competition. One submitted by @welshstscker - also a Phoenix! He and I weirdly and independently came up with the same idea! (I completed and shared mine FIRST before knowing Welshie was working on something similar). š The other design is an intricate sea themed shield created by
@edxserverus.
As @welshstacker has pointed out, the first Steem round had a water theme. The second round had and earth theme. It would be pretty cool if this yearās round highlighted another element - Fire. š„ āŗļø
It would also be cool to feature a different artist/designer for each yearās round. I would be so honored if the Steemit community selected my design for 2019.