Emporium Hamburg’s Prehistoric Life II bullion coin range continues into 2026 with the first of three issues, Plateosaurus
Techstalgic, the nostalgic look at early popular technology, continues its numismatic journey with the Game Coin
In the year that sees the FIFA World Cup play out, Numistrade add football to their fledgling Sporting Ounce bullion series
One of natures most loved marine animals, the Seal, launches Numiscollect’s Above the Surface silver coin series
Mint of MK and Silver Pours bring the blind box concept to miniature firearm coins in copper and silver
Numistrade joins the burgeoning celebrations of US independence with a bullion coin in their own style

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QUICKLOOKS

11May 26

It’s been some three years since Numiscollect added to their History of the Crusades series of silver coins, but we’ve finally got a new issue, the fourteenth since it debuted in 2009. Each coin has depicted a scene from a specific crusade, the first ten focusing on what we consider the traditional campaigns, and the last four, including this one, turning their attention to the less well-known Northern Crusades in the Baltic area.

The 2026 coin features the First Swedish Crusade against Finland by King Erik IX, ironically a campaign that may not ever have happened, given the earliest accounts were recorded about 150 years after the supposed date. The coin itself continues the style of earlier releases, with the figure of the protagonist, in this case Erik, in the foreground, with a melee combat scene in the background. It’s all quite chaotic, and a fine encapsulation of medieval combat.

The coin issuer has changed from Cook Islands to Niue, so that Pacific islands Public Seal sits in the prescribed space. For the first time, the issue date has moved to this face. They’ve taken the opportunity to enhance it as well. While the basic layout remains as before, the silhouette of soldiers and knights is considerably more detailed than before – a major upgrade, in my view. A great release in an excellent series. See the whole range in our Coin Series Profile, which I’ve just spent hours completely refreshing to our latest, more modern look.

DENOMINATION	COMPOSITION	DIMENSIONS	FINISH	MINTAGE
$2 NZD (Niue)	31.1 grams of 0.999 silver	38.61 mm	Antique	499

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11May 26

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, widely regarded as the greatest writer in his native Spanish, wrote his hit novel in 1605. Called ‘The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha’, it tells the story of the title character and his many adventures with his horse Rocinante, and his squire, Sancho Panza, most of which are distortions of fantasies he has in his head.

It’s a lightly comedic work, but with a deeper layer reflecting on the nature of man, and the conflict between realism and fantasy. Don Quixote was published in two parts, and is widely considered the first modern novel. It remains one of the best-selling books of all time, and one of the most translated. Cervantes holds the same esteem in Spain as Shakespeare does in England. It’s a fertile breeding ground for interesting numismatics.

Spanish producer, Asturmint, are the latest to take on the challenge with this terrific one-ounce proof silver coin. The image of Don Quixote, Rocinante, and Panza is full of the whimsy that permeates the novels, and it reminds me of some of the art created for Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ novels, which I consider high praise indeed. They appear over a micro-engraved wall of text, which constitutes the first two chapters of the novel, a great touch.

While the coin is issued for Cameroon, the obverse eschews the usual obverse design for the coat-of-arms of Philip II and III, who ruled Spain when Cervantes wrote Don Quixote. Created with four different finishes, it’s a pleasantly surprising design to find, and very much on theme. Supplied on a large credit-card style blisterpack, all superbly themed (love the colour reproduction of the coin art), the mintage is set at 2,000 pieces, and it’s available to order now.

DENOMINATION	COMPOSITION	DIMENSIONS	FINISH	MINTAGE
1,000 Francs CFA (Cameroon)	31.1 grams of 0.9999 silver	38.61 mm	Proof	2,000

ASTURMINT

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11May 26

T & S Coin have issued a new coin in their expanding range of two-ounce, high-relief silver coins, and we’re heading to that perennial favourite for the subject – Greek mythology. With one of the most varied and unusual pantheons in the ancient world, there are plenty of subjects to choose from, and the choice of the sea god, Poseidon, is a good one.

The design utilises this producer’s playbook of high-relief, colour, and gilded highlights to what looks like great effect. Poseidon is depicted in traditional form, bearded, and wielding a trident, under a stormy sky, and emerging from an equally stormy sea. The waves incorporate that classic trope of galloping horses, and there’s a ship under full sail, in medieval style, perhaps. It’s all quite dynamic, and I suspect this will look very impressive in hand compared to the renders.

The custom obverse used in almost all of T&S Coin’s releases is here, with the Public Seal of Niue at its centre. The coin comes boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity and has a mintage cap of 500 pieces. It should be available to pre-order now.

DENOMINATION	COMPOSITION	DIMENSIONS	FINISH	MINTAGE
$5 NZD (Niue)	62.2 grams of 0.999 silver	45.0 mm	Antique, Colour, Gilding	500

where to buy page

11May 26

Le Grand Mint are one of those producers who have a certain style to their coins, and it’s a very elegant one. Coins like the Durga range, and the Queen of Creativity issue, have a style all of their own, with the recent Freya being a particular favourite of mine. The quality of the artists that create the work is a key factor, with Miroslav Hric, and the artist responsible for this Phoenicia coin, Carmen Testa, being at the top of the game.

We’re almost in the world of female personifications, a particularly strong theme in the numismatic world, but here the woman represents an ancient culture rarely seen on coins, Phoenicia. This Mediterranean people, existing from around 2,500 BCE to 64 BCE, were based in what is now Lebanon and coastal parts of Syria. They were a maritime people, trading extensively around the Mediterranean as far west as the Iberian Peninsula, but leaving fewer records of themselves than the Egyptians.

The coin design dips into that heritage, and is centred around a beautiful woman with her arms outstretched, draped over which is an intricately decorated robe. The Phoenicians were known for their purple Tyrian dyes, which they traded with other cultures. Running over her shoulders are the two bands of the robe, bearing Phoenician script, which was the first verified alphabet, and inspired the Greek alphabet, and others. The lions on the sculpted relief at the top are taken from the old city of Baalbek, which has been continually inhabited for over 7,000 years, perhaps from the Temple of Bacchus, or Jupiter.

A very pretty coin, it’s clearly had considerable thought put into its design, and to great effect. The subject is a breath of fresh air, and incredibly interesting, to me at least, and Le Grand Mint, with Carmen Testa, are to be commended for it. There are two variants of this one-ounce high-relief silver coin on offer. The primary one is a proof coin with a 777 mintage, and the other a ruthenium and gold-plated coin, of which there will be only 222 examples. Whatever you get, it’s a fine release.

DENOMINATION	COMPOSITION	DIMENSIONS	FINISH	MINTAGE
$20 (Liberia)	31.1 grams of 0.9999 silver	38.6 mm	Proof	777
$20 (Liberia)	31.1 grams of 0.9999 silver	38.6 mm	Ruthenium, Gilding	222

where to buy page

LATEST SITE UPDATES

27/03/2026: COIN SERIES PROFILE UPDATE -The Silver Pours micro-coin guides for platinum, gold, and palladium have all had multiple new additions to them over the last couple of weeks up to today.

26/03/2026: THEMATIC GUIDE UPDATE -The Modern Music guide has been updated with new Royal Mint (Spice Girls), and PAMP (Fender Telecaster) issues.

15/03/2026: COIN SERIES PROFILE UPDATE – The Japan Mint’s National Parks series has had all the coins to be released through 2026 added to it.

14/03/2026: BULLION SALES GRAPHS UPDATED – The United States Mint and Perth Mint bullion sales numbers have been brought up to the end of 2025. A Q1/2026 update late next week.

12/03/2026: COIN SERIES PROFILE UPDATE – Mint XXI’s Art Gallery profile has had the second tranche of five coins added to it, including our usual painting backstories.

11/03/2026: BULLION SERIES PROFILE UPDATE – We’ve finally brought the Perth Mint’s Chinese Myths and Legends profile up-to-date and refreshed the look for ease of reading

LATEST SITE NEWS

Early May 2026 catch-up of updates to site guides, profiles and more

Mik Woodgate2026-05-08T23:42:47+01:00May 8th, 2026|

Early May 2026 catch-up of updates to site guides, profiles and more I've been working on updates over the last few days, in my quest to refresh the older guides to a more common look, which I'm finally happy with. Some of them are shown [...]

March 2026: Catching up with lots of updates to guides and profiles

Mik Woodgate2026-03-16T15:47:38+00:00March 16th, 2026|

March 2026: Catching up with lots of updates to guides and profiles No news today, as I've been updating guides and coin profiles for a few days, and it's a never-ending job as usual. Our Coin Series Profiles, Bullion Profiles, and Thematic Guides are useless unless [...]