Silver coin ““The Little Match Girl” 1 oz Fairy tales series

On a freezing, snowy and dark New Year’s Eve, a poor little girl walked down the street, small, bareheaded and barefoot. The shoes she left home in had been too big and had fallen off her feet. One shoe had fallen off as she was hurrying across the street, and the other one had been snatched up by a wicked boy. So the little girl walked on barefoot, her feet turning blue from the cold. She was carrying matches in her red apron, clutching one box in her hands – she had not sold a single match all day, and she had not received a single penny.

Chunks of snow were falling into the girl’s long blond hair, while the lights were glowing through the windows and the smells of roast goose and other dishes wafted past her nose – it was New Year’s Eve, and everyone was looking forward to it.

When she saw a gap between two houses, the poor girl sat down to rest. However, she dared not return home for fear that her father would be angry. Besides, it was cold at home too, with the wind blowing in through the walls and the roof.

The girl’s hands were almost numb from the cold. A single match could have helped her warm up, but she still didn’t dare light it. Finally, she worked up the courage, but the match went out as quickly as it flared up. She struck a second one, but it went out quickly as well. She struck a third match. Suddenly, there was a bright light and a Christmas tree with a thousand candles on its fragrant branches. The candles began to rise upwards, turning into stars in the sky, one of them falling leaving a streak behind it.

The girl remembered that her beloved grandmother, who had passed away, used to say that when a star fell down a soul went up to the sky. ‘Grandmother!’ cried the little girl. ‘Oh, take me with you! I know you will disappear when the match burns out. You will vanish like the beautiful big Christmas tree!’

Wishing to keep her grandmother with her for longer, she quickly struck the whole bundle of matches. The matches flared up, and her grandmother was in front of her again, so beautiful and smiling. She took the little girl in her arms and the two of them, bright and cheerful, soared high up into the sky, where there was neither cold nor misery, but only goodness and warmth.

On Earth, at dawn, people found a little girl frozen stiff from the cold. She was no longer breathing and her numb fingers still held a box of burnt matches.

People said that the girl had wanted to get warm. No one imagined how happily she had gone with her old grandmother into the bright New Year…

The silver ‘Little Match Girl’ coin subtly teaches us not to forget the goodness that is hidden in each of us and that is so easy to share. Whether it is a generous offer of help, a word of encouragement, a smile or another act of kindness. This sentimental coin makes a wonderful gift for little ones, their parents or adults. After all, we are all big kids with one of the most important missions in life – to spread goodness, because sharing goodness is the only way for it to flourish.