Affordable, simple silver releases will always have a place in the market, and one of the more interesting ranges of the last few years has been Germania Mint’s ‘Runes’. This producer has invested considerable time and effort world-building their modern take on the ancient land of Germania, a region contemporary with the Roman Empire, and one filled with Norse influences in later times. It’s the latter that inspired this range of bars.

There are 24 runes in the alphabet laid out in the Elder Futhark, and 18 of them have been set into cast bars as part of the series, but it seems the last 6 are not joining the line-up. A shame. However, to finalise the programme, they’ve issued a unique 2 oz cast silver bar called Vegvísir. This is finished in the same style as the smaller runes, but is styled quite differently. A ring of runes depicts the 18 featured previously, while the centre area is given over to eight radiating arms. The same UV colour is employed on the runes as on the individual bars, but this time in a vibrant purple.

It seems a missed opportunity not to have incorporated the missing six runes in this space, but the design they went with does suit the area particularly well, looking almost like a navigation aid. While the runes had a mintage of 2,500 per design, this double-sized bar is capped at just 500 pieces. It’s a pretty conclusion to a series we had a lot of time for here, due to its unique look and general affordability. Vegvísir is packaged in the same way, in a small black bag with the silver foil symbol emblazoned on it. It comes in a black box with a serialised certificate of authenticity. Available now. Further down you can see our own images of a sample bar we received from Germania Mint, for which they have our thanks. The whole series can be seen in our newly refreshed Bullion Profile.