Excalibur, the sword of Arthurian legend, launches a new silver coin series from the Carpathian Mint
Pop-culture coins remain as popular as ever in numismatic circles. Here’s a look at a small mix of recent issues from different mints.
Art Mint hits a decade with its iconic Mandala Art series, and there’s a stunning 10th anniversary special edition coin to celebrate
Coin’s Today adds strikingly original new silver coins featuring Iberian ceramic tiles and art carved into a book
The brilliantly anarchic animated series Rick & Morty gets an equally brilliant coin from the Mint of Gdańsk
Mint of MK and The Gold Village take their quirky sense of style to the culinary coin genre with this unusual instant noodle homage

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QUICKLOOKS

03Apr 24

Germania Mint has released the eighth in its very popular ‘Runes’ range of one-ounce silver bars. Each of these carries a runic symbol from the early Northern European cultures, and this release is Gebo. It literally means ‘gift’, and is associated with trade, sacrifice, altruism, balance, and hospitality. Gebo is the seventh rune in the Elder Futhark system, that may date back some two millennia, and was associated with Freyr and Freyja. Around the 7th-8th century, Younger Futhark (Norse Runes) took over from Elder, and Gebo faded from use.

A small shaped bar of 0.9999 silver, each rune is emblazoned on the reverse, and has a UV glow-in-the-dark treatment. They have that ‘handled’ look which is attractive, and the back of the bar carries the inscribed composition. There really isn’t much more to these than that, and that unpretentious nature may explain their popularity. They come in a bag with a matching rune symbol on the front, and in a box with the C.O.A. Available now.

DENOMINATION	COMPOSITION	DIMENSIONS	FINISH	MINTAGE
Undenominated	31.1 g 0.9999 silver	30.2 x 22.3 x 7.4 mm	Antique	2,500

where to buy page

28Mar 24

The 60-coin, 10-year Biblical Series program of two-ounce silver coins, continues its inevitable march to completion with the debut of the 52nd, 53rd, and 54th issues. Scottsdale Mint has brought the series up-to-date much quicker than we thought they would, and this finalisation of the 2023 releases, means there’s a great chance the last six coins will debut later in 2024. Again, these feature famous stories in the Bible, in this case The Sermon on the Mount., Moses in the Bulrushes, and Zechariah’s Vision of the Chariots.

As always, the coin designs are a reproduction of the original Gustave Dore woodcuts, and those rarely disappoint. A series for those who have a deep interest in the subject (and lots of commitment!), it has grown into a comprehensive look at one of histories most important books. Check out our comprehensive Coin Series Profile for a look at all the releases to date, and some background information.

DENOMINATION	COMPOSITION	DIMENSIONS	FINISH	MINTAGE
$2 NZD (Niue)	62.2 g 0.999 silver	40.0 mm	Antique	1,499

scottsdale mint

where to buy page

05Mar 24

One of the longest running series we’ve ever covered at AgAuNEWS, Deadly and Dangerous debuted in 2006 with the Red Back Spider, a coin that went on to garner enormous interest on the secondary market. It was a striking coin, but despite interest in the series reducing somewhat, no doubt due to the huge influx of competing designs, it remains a perennial part of the numismatic release schedule.

This 19th issue features the Bluebottle, known elsewhere around the world as the Portuguese Man o’ War. The reverse face of the coin features an attractive image of this extraordinary creature, with the animal itself, and the area above the surface of the sea, highlighted in colour. The undersea environment is cleanly struck, forming a neat contrast.

As has been the case since 2021, there are one-ounce silver and one-ounce gold versions of the coin, each using metal of 0.9999 fineness. Unusually, the silver coin is struck for Tuvalu, a staple place of issue for the Perth Mint that strikes this version, and has the memorial effigy of Queen Elizabeth II on its obverse. The gold coin is issued for Niue, and carries the King Charles II effigy instead, this one by Jody Clark. Both formats are available to order now. Check out our comprehensive Coin Series Profile of the range for full details of this, and the 18 earlier issues.

DENOMINATION	COMPOSITION	DIMENSIONS	FINISH	MINTAGE
$1 TVD (Tuvalu)	31.1 g 0.9999 silver	40.9 mm	Proof	2,500
$100 NZD (Niue)	31.1 g 0.9999 gold	38.6 mm	Proof	150

DOWNIES

AgAunews coin series profile

where to buy page

27Feb 24

Our updating of various Coin Series Profiles continues today, with another pair of coins added to the New Zealand Mint’s copious, and quirky range of pop-culture parodies. For those unaware, Chibi is based on the Japanese art-style called super-deformed, whereby a character is depicted with a huge, outsized head.

There are now over 150 coins in this series, quite some feat given it’s only four years old, and for ease of collection, they’re divided into numerous themed subsets, such as Marvel Comics, Star Trek, and Harry Potter. The two biggest subsets are Star Wars, and DC Comics, and it’s these two that gain new additions this month. Grand Admiral Thrawn joins Star Wars (actually the sub-subset ‘Ahsoka’), and Poison Ivy lines up with the DC pantheon.

Both also have the 10% chance of getting a fully gilded variant. The boxes are sealed, so you won’t know if you have one until it’s opened. Gilded coins carry a big premium on the secondary market, but we can’t say we’re fans of the concept. If you want to offer a gilded version, stick $30 on the price and sell them. Random chance has no place in numismatics, in my view, but your mileage may vary. As always, these are appealing for fans, very well struck, and nicely presented, with a price of $99.00 USD.

DENOMINATION	COMPOSITION	DIMENSIONS	FINISH	MINTAGE
$2 NZD (Niue)	31.1 g 0.999 silver	variable x 36.0 mm	Proof	2,000

AgAunews chibi series profile

where to buy page

LATEST SITE UPDATES

15/04: COIN SERIES PROFILE – Added 2024 issue and special edition to Art Mint’s Mandala Art guide

09/04: THEMATIC GUIDE – Added 2 new Hulk Comix coins to the Marvel Comics Thematic Guide

03/04: BULLION PROFILE – A brand-new profile covering the Germania Mint’s Germanic Runes silver bars

02/04: COIN SERIES PROFILE – Completely refreshed and brought up-to-date the Esoteric Centres Antiqued CSP

27/03: BULLION SALES PAGE – Updated all 6 graphs of Perth Mint & US Mint bullion numbers

26/03: COIN SERIES PROFILE – Added 3 new issues to the Fine Art Bi/Tri-Metal Max CSP

25/03: COIN SERIES PROFILE – Added Bluebottle to the Deadly & Dangerous CSP

24/03: THEMATIC GUIDE – Added multiple new issues to the NZ Mint Star Wars coin guide

LATEST SITE NEWS

UPDATED: A new site update, with a few days off

Mik Woodgate2024-03-20T11:42:23+00:00March 18th, 2024|

UPDATED: A new site update, with a few days off Hi All, We're going to be off for a few days, as, after a longer than expected wait, I have my second eye operation today. Hopefully, that will see things improve for me (it's all a bit [...]