MCI-Mint debuts a rare silver coin pair featuring the mysterious Loch Ness Monster
German mint, MCI has launched its latest antiqued silver coin and after having dabbled with monster coins previously, has focused its attention on the most famous of them all, the Loch Ness Monster. The subject of much theory and speculation as to the nature and existence of the beast, sightings have been piling up for decades and a whole tourist industry has arisen around them. All complete nonsense of course, there’s no denying it brings a huge amount of colour and appeal to what is an incredibly beautiful part of the world. Loch Ness is amazing enough, actually containing more water than every other lake in Great Britain combined.
The coin is an MCI-Mint staple – an ounce of fine silver, antique-finish and issued for the African state of Burkina Faso. The obverse depicts the pretty attractive national emblem of that country, along with most of the required numismatic inscriptions. Just the coin title, date and composition are inscribed on the reverse face. The reverse depicts Nessie breaking through the water and showing the traditionally depicted coils. She has a head a little like a theropod (Allosaurus-type), which seems a little unusual, but we’re not ones to comment too heavily on what is after all, a fantasy creature. In the background sits a castle, perhaps suggesting that the coin art is set in the past as the castle currently sitting beside Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, is in ruins.
Packaged in a decent wooden box and supplied with a serialised certificate of authenticity, just 350 of the coin will be struck. It seems to be priced around the €99.00 mark, a little higher than normal, but that’s no doubt a result of the small mintage. In addition to this there is a limited two-coin set that you can see further below. This includes an extra 1 oz coin available nowhere else and is limited to a scant 99 pieces. Price is €189.00. Available now.
The Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie, is an aquatic being which reputedly inhabits Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, and is often described as being large in size, with a long neck and one or more humps protruding from the water. Popular interest and belief in the creature has varied since it was brought to worldwide attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with a few disputed photographs and sonar readings.
The creature commonly appears in Western media where it manifests in a variety of ways. The scientific community regards the Loch Ness Monster as a being from folklore without biological basis, explaining sightings as hoaxes, wishful thinking, and the misidentification of mundane objects. The creature has been affectionately called Nessie (Scottish Gaelic: Niseag) since the 1940s.
As well as the single coin detailed above, MCI have made available a two-coin set through their online auction site 123TV. They’ve done this several times before, I actually have a nice wildlife set here and there have been a few dinosaur sets. Instead of just collecting different prior releases, these sets often include a coin available nowhere else and that’s indeed the case here.
Of an identical format to the first coin, the special in this set has a different design. Depicting a close-up ‘look’ at Nessie, it’s an obvious match for the main issue. Not a great design if we’re honest, it nevertheless makes the set quite attractive given the mintage of just 99 pieces. Packaged in a wooden box with a combined certificate, it remains a quirky rarity.
SPECIFICATION
NAME | 2017 LOCH NESS MONSTER | 2017 NESSIE |
DENOMINATION | 1,000 Francs CFA | 1,000 Francs CFA |
COMPOSITION | 0.999 silver | 0.999 silver |
WEIGHT | 31.1 grams | 31.1 grams |
DIAMETER | 38.61 mm | 38.61 mm |
FINISH | Antique | Antique |
MODIFICATIONS | None | None |
MINTAGE | 350 | 9 |
BOX / COA | Yes / Yes | Set / Yes |
Superb coin and the 3rd release from MCI of the Popular Mythical Creatures series. The Wolpertinger was followed by Big Foot, a very unique series and i hope they continue with an annual release. I didnt know about the 2 coin set with Nessie. They state these coins are handmade, not sure what they mean by handmade or if each coin could be slightly unique as a result.
I believe MCI do strike very limited runs of coins with more traditional machinery rather than the high-volume computer-controlled machinery used by others and I think this is what they meant (translation can be inaccurate, just look at one of my Bank of China posts. 😉 ). The small-run sets are generally offered on the 1-2-3-tv online shopping channel, but they’re quite difficult to track down as MCI don’t tend to promote them much outside of that.
I like MCI a lot. Great characters and they strike some unusual designs with subjects less mainstream and safe than others.
I love MCI coins and the fact that they are less mainstream and unusual adds to their appeal. Im still hoping for a 2017 Chad Hippo but delighted at the new Benin Elephant. Was hoping the Red Deer Stag was going to be an annual release, that coin seems very rare for such an amazing design. Its strange to see MCI website has almost no stock of any item, i had feared the worst but their coins are spectacular.