Numiartis debuts Demigods silver coin series with the warrior Achilles

We always cheer up when we hear Numiartis have something new coming out, mainly because you’re almost guaranteed to get something special. With such quality releases as the Minotaur, Ares, the Egyptian Symbols series and recently, the superb Poseidon, they have a standard of output matched by few others, no doubt aided by choosing to work with some of the best in the industry like CIT and the Mint of Poland.

It’s to that latter organisation that this particular coin originates. Called Demigods, this new Achilles coin takes the tried and tested formula of an antique-finished two-ounce silver coin with high-relief an a rimless edge. Depicting the epic battle from The Iliad of the Greek hero Achilles slaying the hero of Troy, Hector, it eschews brightly coloured gilding or multi-coloured mineral windows, just using a small piece of the mineral Hematite as the boss of Hectors shield. A common mineral from which we extract iron, hematite is a hard dark mineral that has even been pictured in spherules on the Martian surface by the Mars Exploration Rover.

The coin design is another impressive one. We still favour Poseidon given a direct comparison, but that’s a €350 coin and Achilles not only looks great, it’s selling for well over €100 less than that one. As you can see from the images, it’s a coin that benefits fully from the Mint of Poland’s expertise in ultra high-relief strikes. Able to maintain that elusive combination of depth and detail, it appears to be a very three-dimensional piece of work.

Issued for Niue, the obverse will incorporate the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II and also be antique-finished. The coin will come boxed with a certificate of authenticity. We’ve yet to see packsaging images, by Numiartis have yet to disappoint in that regard, so expect something decent. Due to ship in late April/early May, this looks to be another issue worth waiting for. The mintage is set at 650 pieces and it’s available to order today from several of our sponsors.

ACHILLES

Attributed to the legendary author Homer, the Illiad tells the story of the the siege of the city of Troy (Ilium) by a coalition of Greek city states. Mainly set in the final stages of the war, it chronicled the conflict between King Agamemnon and the heroic Greek warrior, Achilles. Touching on past events in the war and prophesising future events, this  dactylic hexameter epic poem covers most aspects of the war.

Achilles is one of the central characters in Homers work. His mother was the immortal Nereid Thetis, and his father, the mortal Peleus, was the king of the Myrmidons, a group of people native to Thessaly. One of the most notable events in the poem is the battle between Achilles and the Trojan hero Hector outside the gates of Troy, which is the event depicted on the coin. Achilles triumphs, but is himself killed later in the war by an arrow in the heel fired by Paris.

This was believed to be the only part of Achilles body that wasn’t invulnerable as it was said his mother Thetis dipped him into the River Styx as an infant but held him by his heel to do so. To this day the term Achilles Heel is used to denote a point of weakness in an otherwise strong person, or even object.

SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION $2 New Zealand
COMPOSITION 0.999 silver
WEIGHT 62.2 grams
DIAMETER 45.00 mm
FINISH Antique
MODIFICATIONS Hematite insert
MINTAGE 650
BOX / COA Yes / Yes