What happens when a shark bites a coin? Numiscollect think they have the answer

One of the most innovative coin producers out there, Numiscollect have a good history of unusual and very high quality precious metal numismatics. They’ve now turned their attention to the animal kingdom. Instead of yet another coloured silver round however, the Dutch producer has gone with something quite different.

Called ‘Bitemarks’, the series will look at the impact the crushing jaws of various animals can have and does so in a clever way. Starting out as a standard 38.61 mm silver round, the design imagines a shark has tried to take a bite out of one side and has left both teethmarks and deformation behind. The reverse face has a fine looking depiction of a shark, most likely a Great White, which is clean struck and high-relief. Mouth open and turning sharply, it does a great job of showing a shark about to strike. To the bottom left is a series of five shark teeth indentations which arc from rim to rim. The small area enclosed by that arc is bent upwards as if under great pressure.

As it’s a deformation of the coin, it clearly shows through on the reverse face, as do the five peaks of silver that coincide with the indentations on the other side. The Palau emblem also sits on this side, but instead of being in isolation, it sits in a well realised undersea view with waves above and schooling sharks below. The issuer, date and denomination are inscribed on this side, leaving just the coin title for the reverse.

The  coin will be packaged in a ‘beautiful’ box which we’ve yet to see, but the coin doesn’t ship until May/June, so images will appear well before release, we’re sure. A certificate of authenticity will accompany each of the 999 units being minted. We like this one a lot. As we’re fans of wildlife coins anyway this one already had a head start, but we like the mix of quality design and innovation. The NZ Mint did a bitemark shark a few years ago, but that was a simple coloured coin with some teeth-shaped holes in it. This one is on a whole other level, so consider us impressed.