Lick that cookie, or the man with the gun is coming!! An umbrella coin inspired by a hit South Korean TV show debuts

We’re inundated with fake excellence on a daily basis. Constantly told what is, or isn’t, good by those trying to latch onto the next ‘big thing’, we all get burned so many times by the false promises that we inevitably turn to cynicism. Sometimes, however, the product not only meets those expectations, it soars past them. The smash-hit Netflix TV show from South Korea, ‘Squid Game’, is one such example. We’ve said before that this Asian nation is putting out some great cultural show-pieces at the moment, including coins, so what happens when TV inspires our little world?

LPM have debuted a new coin today, two-ounces of 0.999 silver, that is clearly inspired by the hit TV series. Of the many cool episodes in the show, one of the tensest has to be the Dalgona challenge. A Korean candy made of melted sugar and baking soda, they’re stamped with a patterned mold to form a simple line image. The idea is to nibble away at the outer part so that you only have the internal shape left. Or else…

The most complex of the four shapes was the umbrella, so good luck getting that one out in one piece, far harder than the simple geometric shapes of the other three. It’s also the one that LPM have chosen for their new coin, and like the dalgona, it comes apart into two pieces which go together to form a whole.

The coin is fully gilded and very clean and simple on the reverse face. On the obverse, the back of the small umbrella-shaped inset piece carries the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, along with all the necessary inscription details. The small centre piece makes up just 12.2 grams of the 62.2 gram (2 troy ounces) total weight, with the large outer piece making up the other 50 grams. The latter has no inscriptions on it at all, so make sure you keep them as a pair.

The coin comes in a tin with a nicely themed Certificate of Authenticity. The mintage of 456 is a nod to the number of players in the aforementioned TV show, of course. All told, the coin is a timely release and with a mintage this small for a subject like this, likely to be a quick seller. It would be nice to see some character masks done as coins if they should get an official licence, but this is a good start for what is a quirky piece of drama. Available to order now.