The Perth Mint is going big on icons this month and along with Leonard Nimoys Spock, comes an absolute legend in any context,  Bruce Lee, probably the greatest martial artist to ever appear on film. Born on 27 November 1940, Lee went on to become a pop culture icon of the 20th century and arguably the most influential martial artist of all time. Incredibly, all of this was done before his death in 1973 at the young age of just 32. Most known to filmgoers for his starring roles in five movies, The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Way of the Dragon, Game of Death, and most powerfully in Enter the Dragon, for which he gave a tour de force performance.

Trained in the art of Wing Chun, he combined the disciplines he’d learned with other sources to start Jeet Kune Do, translated as The Way of the Intercepting Fist. His untimely death is thought to be a reaction to a painkiller that brought on a cerebral edema, a swelling of the brain. Speculation on other causes is just that, speculation. He is buried in Lakeview Cemetary in Seattle and such was his popularity his pallbearers included Taky Kimura, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Chuck Norris, George Lazenby, Dan Inosanto, Peter Chin, and Lee’s brother Robert.

It’s a pair of coins from the Perth Mint, the usual one-ounce coloured silver, along with a ¼ oz gold carrying a different design. Both are decent looking affairs, although our personal view is that they’re a little lacking in ambition given the nature of the man and the awesome imagery that’s built up around him. The lack of any Chinese inscriptions, for example, seems a little out of place and would’ve looked more atmospheric than a huge number 75 taking centre-stage. Fundamentally sound however and cool enough to please fans, of which there are legions.

Another mint has a pair of coloured Bruce Lee silver coins coming soon, quite similar in style to the silver one here and we’ll post as soon as the embargo lifts. In the meantime, these can be purchased from the Perth Mint website for $109.00 AUD in silver, and $725.00 in gold, or from your local Perth Mint dealer.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

Born in San Francisco on 27 November 1940, Bruce Lee was a Chinese-American martial artist, teacher, action-film actor, philosopher, and filmmaker. He remains one of the greatest icons of martial arts cinema and pop culture. His film success in Hong Kong in the early 1970skick-started a cultural obsession with martial arts cinema and would be hugely influential in opening up the martial arts genre in the United States of America, as well as Europe, in the decades to follow.

SILVER DESIGN: The reverse of the silver coin features a colour image of Bruce Lee in an iconic fighting pose. The inscriptions BRUCE LEE 1940 2015, 75 YEARS, and The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark also appear in the design.

GOLD DESIGN: The reverse of the gold coin features an image of Bruce Lee in one of his classic martial arts poses. The inscriptions BRUCE LEE, 75 YEARS, 1940 – 2015 and The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark also appear in the design.

OBVERSE: The Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the monetary denomination, the coin’s weight and fineness, and the 2015 year-date are shown on the obverse of each coin.

SILVER PRESENTATION: The silver coin is presented in a classic grey presentation case within an illustrated shipper and is accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

GOLD PRESENTATION: The gold coin is presented in a prestigious wooden presentation case within an illustrated shipper and is accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

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SPECIFICATION