Montserrat and Grenada released in the EC8 Caribbean bullion coin series from Scottsdale

Now passing the half-way stage of an eight-coin 2018 program, Scottsdale Mint have doubled on the usual solo release by launching the Grenada and Montserrat coins in one hit. Previous issues that have been for other countries in the East Caribbean Central Bank zone include Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, and Dominica. Still to come are Anguilla, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines.

The Grenadan coin takes nature for its inspiration and depicts a diver swimming above a reef and towards a shipwreck. One of our favourites to date, it does a great job encapsulating the region and is a good-looking design in its own right. The proof versions employ selective colour highlighting – the reef enjoying a blaze of different shades.

The coin for Montserrat takes a different approach and carries a design based around the flag, rather than the physical island itself. It’s lacks the soul of the island – this is after all, a place famed for its active volcano – but is attractive for its type. The beauty of the EC8 series has always been the variety of themes that make up the set. The proof variants also employ colour (we’ll have images up later) and in this case its the Union Flag at top left, and the national shield at bottom right, that get the highlighting.

The obverse is common to the series and can be seen in our Bullion Profile to the series, to which we’ll add these two tomorrow. The same formats are on offer and will likely remain set for the life of the series. The bullion coin comes as a 1oz 0.999 silver (25,000 mintage) and a 1oz 0.9999 gold (2,500), with the boxed and certified proof coins ahving a 2,500 mintage in silver, with just 500 in gold.. The bullion variants ship in capsules on customized Scottsdale Mint branded skin boards of five, although dealers will sell them individually. The Gold “Nature Island” BU coins will ship in Scottsdale Mint’s Certi-Lock® packaging.  Available any time now, prices will remain the same as the previous issues.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

The 2018 ECCB Grenada coin depicts scuba divers exploring beautiful coral reefs and a centuries old shipwreck in the ocean depths off of the coast of Grenada.  Grenada, known to many around the world as The Spice Isle of the Caribbean, is world renowned for not only its natural beauty, ship wrecks and its spices such as nutmeg but also its spectacular scuba diving.  Boasting some of the most gorgeous coral reefs in the Caribbean and a one of a kind underwater sculpture park, Grenada is a scuba diver’s paradise.

Grenada is a country in the West Indies in the southeastern Caribbean consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. It is located northwest of Trinidad & Tobago, northeast of Venezuela and southwest of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The 2018 ECCB Montserrat coin depicts the Montserratian territorial flag, a blue ensign with the British Union Flag in the canton and the coat of arms of Montserrat.  The coat of arms consist of a shield featuring a lady in green representing Erin, the female personification of Ireland holding a golden harp with one arm while embracing the Cross, symbolizing Christianity, in the other arm.

Montserrat is located in the Leeward Islands of the Eastern Caribbean, which is part of the chain known as the Lesser Antilles, in the West Indies. It is a British Overseas Territory whose nickname, “The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean” is derived from its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for its Irish ancestry (prisoners, indentured servants, forced laborers, and loyal opposition soldiery) of many of its inhabitants who began arriving on the island around 1632.