85 years of the chaotic cat and mouse antics of Tom & Jerry are celebrated on Agoro’s new coin and it’s not looking good for Jerry!

Numismatic pop-culture specialists, Agoro (by New Zealand Mint), have today launched their latest homage, and this time it’s in celebration of 85 years of Tom & Jerry, the beloved, manic, cat and mouse animated duo. Created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who later went on to create, amongst others, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Wacky Races, Top Cat, and Scooby-Doo. Quite the portfolio of classics!

Tom & Jerry was a huge hit, eventually running up over 160 shorts, and bagging seven Oscars in the process. It remains a huge franchise, with multiple releases of new films and television shows through every decade of its existence. If you don’t know the plot (how?), it’s about the often violent and combative adventures of a cat and a mouse. These aren’t deep stories, but made for the fun of watching two traditional adversaries go at it, usually without success.

The coin is a surprisingly big one for Agoro, tipping the scales at five ounces, but that does mean it’s a very nice size (86mm), and the shaped nature fits the theme perfectly. Tom is depicted about to snack down on a Jerry sandwich, but we all know it’s not going to happen… It’s a simple strike, relying on colour to get the message over, and that seems strangely appropriate given the 2D animated origins of the subject.

The obverse has the anniversary logo, complete with a terrific depiction of a chase in progress. The packaging looks nice, something the NZ Mint have always excelled at, and the mintage of just 200 pieces means this will be quite the rarity, especially given the sheer popularity of the subject. Available to order now (please click the Agoro banner below so we get a little cheese), this gets a big thumbs up from me, although I’d like to see a smaller, more affordable variant, and maybe some big silver foils of the old movie posters as well.