Precious Metal Collectors are launching the first in an interesting new series called ‘The View From Above’, which will reproduce in miniature an urban cityscape. Humanity has built some truly extraordinary cites all over the world, each with their own iconic, unique layouts and architecture. PMC have chosen the tiny city state of Vatican City as the first to get the numismatic treatment.

The Vatican City sits in the Italian capital, Rome, and is the smallest sovereign state in the world, not just by area, but also by population. It doesn’t lack for influence, however, as it’s the administrative centre of the Catholic Church, ruled by the pope as head of the Holy See. While it gained true independence as recently as 1929, the iconic buildings within it are far older. Vatican City is dominated by St. Peter’s Basilica, a church of the Italian Renaissance which was constructed in the 16th century to replace a 4th century Roman basilica, and the huge St. Peter’s Square where the pope holds his audiences.

Fortunately, Vatican City is devoid of skyscrapers, something that any mint would struggle to reproduce with this kind of overhead vista, so PMC have managed to do a fantastic job with the design of this coin, losing little of the actual view in the process. Most of the images below are renders, but the one held by the black glove is an actual coin, and I was fortunate enough to get a look at the prototype back in January. They showed us some excellent coins for release through 2026, but this one instantly stood out. It was exceptional.

The obverse is simple by comparison, with the Samoan emblem and the issue details sitting as if inside a wax seal, complete with cord. PMCs description of it hints that this may be unique to this coin, and future releases will have unique ones. This two-ounce coin comes boxed, and with a serialised Certificate of Authenticity, with just 399 to be struck. A genuinely fine release, in my opinion, and the concept has a lot of future potential. Pop some suggestions in the comments for future releases, as PMC will likely read them.