Creatures of Myth & Legend enters Mount Olympus for the god of the seas, Poseidon

Ostensibly a companion series to the excellent lunars issued for the Pacific island of Tokelau by Treasures of Oz, Creatures of Myth and Legend depicted a fantastical creature that fitted in with the lunar animal that year. Capricornus and Aries for the year of the goat, Pegasus and a Unicorn for the year of the horse, it all came to a stop last year when the lunar range was suspended. Keeping the theme but freeing the series from the lunar shackles means it’s back and if the first new coin is a reliable indicator, it will be one to watch for in the future.

A single design, that of Poseidon, trident in hand, riding a magnificent pair of horses, is used for all the variants. There are two gold sizes; a one-ounce with a microscopic mintage of just 50 pieces (all now sold out, so we suspect they were for a specific client) and the ubiquitous half-gram minigold with a mintage of 1,000 pieces. The latter coin looks to have an impressive amount of detail for its 11 mm diameter, although waiting to see one in hand will confirm that, but it’s the only one not to come boxed in anything other than a capsule.

The silver coin will come in four finishes, all of an ounce in weight. Available individually are proof and a quite superb looking high-relief antiqued variant. Each are presented in a black snapper-style coin box and are capped at 1,000 units each. Of particular interest and our favourite by far is the typeset collection. Just 500 will be made available and they each contain four coins. Two are the aforementioned proof and antiqued versions and to accompany them are reverse-proof and gilded coins, both of which are unique to the set.

A beautiful coin, they’ve done a terrific job with  the concept and presentation as well. The minigold sells for $65.00 AUD, the silver proof for $89.00 and the antiqued silver for $110.00. The typeset collection with the four silver coins is selling for $399.00 and all are available to buy now.