We covered the Royal Mint’s new ‘Portraits of a Queen’ coin yesterday, and while doing so, noticed with some surprise the quiet launch of a new bullion coin, and in our view, it’s a cracker. The main reason for that is the design by one of our favourite coin artists, Joel Iskowitz, who is responsible for the superb ‘Icons of Inspiration’ bullion coin series for APMEX.

The Royal Mint loves literary source material, having just undertaken a bullion series around King Arthur, and Robin Hood, so the addition of Irish author, Bram Stoker’s iconic horror novel, Dracula, is a natural progression. The design is superb, using a classic depiction of the blood-sucker (vampire, not a banker), elegantly dressed, and raising his cloak to reveal a Transylvanian vista. Silhouettes of bats are scattered liberally. I think it’s a terrific composition, with only the top bat on the right side being a negative, as it’s one too many for me. First class.

Just two formats have been revealed so far, with a solitary gold, and a solo silver coin, both of one-ounce in weight. Each is encapsulated, but other than that, it’s a straight-up bullion coin. The obverse will be familiar to Royal Mint bullion buyers, as it’s just the effigy of Charles III over a guilloche background. Available to order now, both have limited mintages.