With Star Wars, Star Trek, Thunderbirds and Back to the Future all hitting the coin world over the last few weeks, we decided to bend our coin-only rules a little and cover a recent release featuring another of the sci-fi worlds great icons, the Terminator.

Released in 1984 and rapidly becoming one of the most revered science-fiction movies in cinema history, James Cameron’s seminal masterwork The Terminator, gave the entertainment world a powerful franchise, and an acting behemoth, Arnold Schwarzeneggar. Also starring Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton, it was filmed in Los Angeles, produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures. Schwarzenegger plays the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from the year 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, played by Hamilton, whose son will one day become a savior against machines in a post-apocalyptic future.Biehn plays Kyle Reese, a soldier from the future sent back in time to protect her.

Though not expected to be a critical or commercial success, The Terminator topped the American box office for two weeks and massively helped launch the film career of Cameron and consolidate that of Schwarzenegger. The film received critical acclaim, with many praising its pacing and action scenes, and Schwarzenegger’s role. Its success led to a franchise, consisting of films, a television series, comic books, novels, and even coins.

New startup, Stardust Silver, has launched, with the first release being the debut of a new five silver-round series of coins featuring the movies. The first coin depicts the classic T-800 Terminator as portrayed by Schwarzeneggar in the 1984 movie. Struck to a reverse proof finish with the iconic eyes of the T800 highlighted in red colour, the coin was sculpted by fan favourite Heidi Wastweet. The reverse-proof finish is a perfect fit for the main design, bringing out the polished Terminator and adding the frosted texture to the apocalyptic background. The other side of the round is simpler and not quite as successful in our view, but still perfectly encapsulates the movie atmosphere. The edge of the round is inscribed with the serial number that matches the enclosed certificate of authenticity. There doesn’t appear to be a box or shipper included however, which seems a little hard to believe given the $80 USD pricetag. Sold exclusively by APMEX, a large US coin and bullion dealer, the 5,000 mintage seems perfectly reasonable and will likely sell quite quickly.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

What better way to depict the iconic endoskeleton, undoubtledly instrumental to the success of The Terminator movie franchise, then to create his recognizable image in .999 Fine SILVER!!   After all, the T-800 is an International star of the Silver Screen.

This design, created by Michael S. Berman and exceptionally sculpted by world renowned metal sculptress, Heidi Wastweet, is a high relief, Reverse Proof*.

  • Obverse: The Terminator’s face is based off the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 Series 800 Terminator that was sent by Skynet in 2029 to Los Angeles in 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, the future mother of John Connor, the leader of the future human resistance. Behind the face shows the carnage that follows this machine’s path.
  • Reverse: The tagline that launched the franchise is shown at the top, along with “THE TERMINATOR”, the killing machine as depicted in the original Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 blueprints.

Fantastically executed by Sunshine Minting, Inc. who was the manufacturer for this art round.

Round Highlights:

  • Contains 1 oz of .999 fine Silver.
  • Round comes encapsulated with a the serial number engraved on the edge. Also included is a numbered  COA along with a Terminator-themed holder.
  • Limited mintage of 5,000 rounds.
  • Edge is engraved with serial number matching the certificate of authenticity.

*A reverse proof coin is a coin that is struck in the same manner as a normal proof coin, except that the fields are frosty and the raised devices are mirror-like. The term reverse proof does not mean that only the reverse side of the coin is struck in proof finish. The entire coin is in proof finish, with the “reverse” meaning stemming from the fact that the fields are frosty (rather than the devices.)

The T-800 was a Terminator model portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the first film, Skynet begins as a Global Digital Defense Network computer system by Cyberdyne Systems which becomes self-aware. Things turn for the worst when these machines perceive humans as a security threat and attempt to wipe out humanity altogether.

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SPECIFICATION

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
ROUND 0.999 SILVER 31.1 g 38.00 mm REVERSE PROOF 5,000 NO / YES