The Peacock is back, this time in crystal-adorned form from the Mint of Poland
As one of the most beautiful creatures in the animal kingdom, the peacock was obviously going to attract some attention in the burgeoning wildlife coin market. One of the finest depictions came back in 2015 when CIT Coin Invest surprised collectors with the debut of a new series called Magnificent Life. Lashings of detail and a great design led to a quick sell out, and the series continues to this day – a cool Tree Frog issue being the latest.
The Mint of Poland now has one of its own, and it’s strikingly similar. Indeed, the artwork has the bird in an almost identical pose. The similarities don’t end there. It also weighs around an ounce, is struck in 0.999 silver, and has the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse (although for Niue instead of the Cook Islands). The major difference comes with the use of Swarovski Elements, the artificial crystals that the rich and tasteless stick over their cars to stand out (and look idiotic). CIT are no strangers to their use – the award-winning Mongolian Endangered Wildlife series employed them for eyes, but the Polish mint seems to have a passion for them. Five of the blue crystals are used to enhance the feathered backdrop.
The coin comes presented in one of the latex floating frames that make displaying the coin very easy. It does of course come with a certificate of authenticity, and has a mintage of just 500 pieces. If you missed the CIT coin, this is a decent way to get something very similar, but we still prefer the elegance and purity of CIT’s older 2015 coin. This one should be available to order any time now. Check out our sponsors.
| SPECIFICATION | |
| DENOMINATION | $2 New Zealand (Niue) |
| COMPOSITION | 0.999 silver 32.90 grams |
| DIMENSIONS | 41.0 mm |
| FINISH | Coloured with Swarovski Elements |
| MINTAGE | 500 |
| BOX / COA | Yes (Frame) / Yes |
Hmmm, the CIT Magnificent Life Peacock is actually the most beautiful coin in my collection, it is more stunning in hand than in any pictures but even in picures your jaw hits the floor! This will no doubt look better in hand but it does not compete with the magnificent life, the feather detail looks amazing but i dont like the crystals and it just looks unfinished, if they had just left the feather design without the actual peacock it would have been something unique. Dont think anyone has done a feather designed series of coins, just the colour and texture of various feathers fully covering the reverse of the coin, oooh and then we would finally know which weighed more, an ounce of silver or an ounce of feathers (obviously the silver, its metal!)
I’d rather be hit on the head with an ounce of feathers though…
I like that idea for a coin series. A few mints are more than capable of the level of relief and detail needed. CIT’s smartminting immediately springs to mind.