Mickey Through the Ages. France joins Niue with coins celebrating Disney icon.

Previously the exclusive domain of the New Zealand Mint, Disney coins have now been launched by French national mint, the Monnaie de Paris. Ostensibly a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney’s death, the coins are strictly limited to depicting the animation legends most iconic creation, Mickey Mouse.

Most popular, and after some delay to the original release date, are a pair of proof silver coins with some selective colouring. The bigger of the two, a five-ounce beast, depicts a selection of Mickey’s from the earliest incarnation to the modern day. It’s an interesting look at the character. In contrast, the smaller coin, at 22g a Monnaie de Paris staple size, features just an image of the modern Mickey Mouse, one actually taken from the larger coin. Both sit on a silhouette of Mickey’s head surrounded by a geometric pattern. Both are pretty good designs – different to the New Zealand Mint coins, although perhaps not quite as stylish.

The gold coins are all cleanly struck and eschew any colouring. Each of the three sizes (5oz, 1oz, ¼oz) feature an image of Mickey, again taken from the 5oz silver coin. Each design is exclusive to one size of coin. The background is very similar to the silver coins, featuring the silhouette head and differing geometric patterns again. Both the gold and silver variants have the same basic Mickey head obverse, with just the denomination and geometric pattern in the background changing. The silver coins sell for €508.00 and €74.00, the gold for €10,658, €2130, and €536. All come boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity and are available to order now.

Not content with just the usual coins, the MdP have also debuted a keyring, a set of copper-nickel mini-medals in a collectors album, a pretty cool rectangular medallion, and another with a coloured Mickey that can be removed and placed on top of the metal base for display purposes. It’s an eclectic mix that you can see further down, we particularly like the rectangular piece. All of these are also available now.

2016 MICKEY THROUGH THE AGES PROOF SILVER COINS

MINTS DESCRIPTION

The 50th anniversary of Walt Disney’s passing away is the opportunity to celebrate Mickey in this collector coin series. Mickey Mouse was born in the muted cartoon Plane Crazy, projected on the 15th of May 1928 in the USA. Its third cartoon, Steamboat Willie – with a background sound- will propell him to stardom of America.  True icon, Mickey  has been marking generations for 87 years.

MEDAL: The obverse of the medal represents, in the form of a timeline, Mickey in his various designs of 1928 to today. These 5 performances allow to visualize the history of Mickey throughout the ages. On the first design we can see a representation of 1928 of Mickey, date at which the public view for the first time who would become the Ambassador of Disney. The second drawing is a representation of Mickey in his first film “Steamboat Willie” in 1928. The third drawing depicts Mickey in 1932, close to the contemporary design. The fourth representation is Mickey in its third film of Disney: Fantasia. Finally, the fifth and final performance, is the design of Mickey we know today. The reverse of the medal is plain, allowing a personal engraving. Mintage limited to 500 copies. Numbered on the edge. This medal with original design and rectangular shape has the possibility to stand up without easel.

DEPLOYABLE: This medal celebrates the 50th anniversary of the loss of Walt Disney. At the bottom center is the copyright of Disney attesting the collaboration between the Monnaie de Paris and the famous animation studio. Obverse of the medal presents the character Mickey Mouse placed on a base with the inscription « Mickey since 1928 ». The character Mickey stands out on the black background thanks to a colorization. The ears, the nose and tail are colored by a black resin and the short colored by a red resin, handmade. the reverse of the medal is plain. Mintage limited to 500 copies. Numbered on the edge. This medal with original design is deploying. Indeed, the center Mickey can break off and stand without easel, making it a true work of art.

MINI MEDALS: This collector’s case is designed with Mickey’s colors and graphic lines. On the cover page the official logos of Disney and the Monnaie de Paris, and also a happy Mickey, the emblematic character created in 1928 by Walt Disney, are represented. The inscription « Discover Mickey et his friends through the ages » shows the aim of the collector, the discovery of the Disney’s universe.

Inside the collector, 10 mini medals representing Mickey and his friends show graphic lines of the comics Mickey. A short text next to every character reminds its origins, its creation date but also its first appearance in the comics. On the back cover, Mickey’s head stands out the pictures of the mini medals. A little speech points out the collaboration between Disney and the Monnaie de Paris which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the loss of Walt Disney.

GOLD COINS IN €50, €200 AND €500 DENOMINATIONS

WALT DISNEY: THE MAN

Walter Elias “Walt” Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards earned by an individual, having won twenty-two Oscars from 59 nominations. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing. He took art classes as a boy and got a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to Hollywood in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy. With Ub Iwerks, Walt developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success; he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, Disney became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor, feature-length cartoons and technical developments in cameras. The results, seen in features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Fantasia, Pinocchio (both 1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942), furthered the development of animated film. New animated and live-action films followed after World War II, including the critically successful Cinderella (1950) and Mary Poppins (1964), the latter of which received five Academy Awards.

In the 1950s, Disney expanded into the amusement park industry, and in 1955 he opened Disneyland. To fund the project he diversified into television programs, such as Walt Disney’s Disneyland and The Mickey Mouse Club; he was also involved in planning the 1959 Moscow Fair, the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the 1964 New York World’s Fair. In 1965, he began development of another theme park, Disney World, the heart of which was to be a new type of city, the “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow”. Disney was a heavy smoker throughout his life, and died of lung cancer in December 1966 before the park or city was completed.  (Source:Wikipedia)

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SUBTLE CHANGES IN OBVERSE DESIGN FOR EACH DENOMINATION

SPECIFICATION

ITEM DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE
SINGLE MICKEY €10 EURO 0.900 SILVER 22.2 g 37.0 mm PROOF 3,000
MULTI MICKEY €10 EURO 0.950 SILVER 163.8 g 50.0 mm PROOF 500
¼ OZ GOLD €50 EURO 0.920 GOLD 8.45 g 22.0 mm PROOF 1,000
1 OZ GOLD €200 EURO 0.999 GOLD 31.104 g 37.0 mm PROOF 500
5 OZ GOLD €500 EURO 0.999 GOLD 155.5 g 50.0 mm PROOF 99
MEDAL SET N/A CuNi 17.7 g 34.0 mm UNC 5,000
VIGNETTE N/A SILVERED BRONZE 350 g 110 x 50 mm TBC 500

MEDALS, VIGNETTE AND KEYRING

MINT LINK