Our Mint of Poland catch-up continues with a look at the less glamorous series that constitute a fair sized chunk of their output. In amongst the high-end meteorite, spatial and art-architectural coins, the mint runs several coloured silver series at considerably more affordable prices. The subject of choice is nature and we regularly cover them as it’s a popular subject. Recent series have included the eleven-coin SOS Endangered Species, the ongoing Fascinating Birds, and the new Bioluminescent Animals which just debuted its first piece.

Below are three other series, the first having only a single entrant, the second on its fifth, and the third on its tenth. It’s safe to assume from the number of these sets that the Mint of Poland produces that they’re very popular. We’d like to see a prehistoric animals series next time around, especially now that most existing ones have finished now.

BEAUTIFUL WILDLIFE

DESCRIPTION

The first in a new series called ‘Beautiful Wildlife’, these are one-ounce fine silver coins with almost all over colouring. Where many coins will use colour to highlight a part of the overall design, this is one of those where the whole design is printed. Only the blocks carrying inscriptions with the series name at the top, and the date/subject at the bottom are cleanly struck.

There isn’t much else to say about these really. The box is a standard item, not the new style, and the obverse is also a standard one for the Mint of Poland’s Niue-issued coins. Not an ambitious series but this kind of coin seems popular enough. It’s available at quite a few dealers such as APMEX, Intercoins-Berlin, and PowerCoin.

SPECIFICATION

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIMENSIONS FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$1 NEW ZEALAND 0.999 SILVER 31.1 g 38.61 mm PROOF 750 YES / YES

S.O.S. FOR THE WORLD – THEY’RE GONE

DESCRIPTION

This series is a little more adventurous than the other two here, combining microprinting, laser engraving and high-end digital printing. Called SOS to the World – They are gone!, this series looks at animals that are no longer with us. Five coins have been issued to date. The basic format is a Mint of Poland favourite, a 17.5g 0.999 silver coin.

The central part of each coin depicts an image of the featured animal. Also on the reverse face is a small micro-printed image of a map which shows the regional distribution of the animal and indicates the year when the species was classified as extinct. The background of the reverse is coloured and shows the animals habitat. The frog coin is unusual in that the animal itself is also coloured, but the rest remain presented cleanly struck, for the better in our opinion, but you may think otherwise.

These come in the newer style of box from the mint, a better and more modern one, with an enclosed Certificate of Authenticity. The obverse is again, like all 16 of the coins here, the standard Niue one from this mint. There have been a couple of specials in this series, both variants of the first coin. First is a 750 g version identical except for the size. A tiny 22 of these will be struck at most and we’ve only seen these for sales at E-Mince.cz and they’re quite pricey, as you’d expect. The other is a 10g gold coin that carries the same design, but is devoid of colour. Only 40 of these will be produced and again, we’ve only seen these at E-Mince.cz. A nice series, the best of the three presented here we think.

SPECIFICATION

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIMENSIONS FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$1 NEW ZEALAND 0.999 SILVER 17.50 g 38.61 mm PROOF  999 YES / YES
$100 NEW ZEALAND 0.999 SILVER 750.0 g 100.0 mm PROOF 22 YES / YES
$50 NEW ZEALAND 0.999 GOLD 10.0 g 21.0 mm PROOF 40 YES / YES

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SYMBOLS OF NATURE

DESCRIPTION

Last up is a ten-coin series, now all released, called Symbols of Nature. These are pretty simple pieces, only 10 grams in weight, cleanly struck with the exception of a small coloured depiction of an animal in the centre. The subjects are some of the more common, everyday animals familiar to, and seen by a greater number of people without a visit to a big zoological garden.

The background of each coin is adorned with several different silhouettes of the animal featured, and around near the edge, inbetween the animal name in English at the top and Polish at the bottom, are series of footprints, also animal specific on every coin. They’re actually quite a nice, clever design, although they lack the higher-end printing of more expensive coins. They come boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity.

Mintages are pretty tight at 499, although the first two releases (wolf and roe-deer) were at 999 pieces. These don’t seem widely available, although APMEX have most in stock for around the $50 mark. It’s a pity there isn’t a collectors box for these rather than individual ones as it seems a perfect series to be sold as a cheap subscription.

SPECIFICATION

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIMENSIONS FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$1 NEW ZEALAND 0.999 SILVER 10.00 g 32.0 mm PROOF  499 YES / YES

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