After a fine debut last March, Le Grand Mint have launched the second of their Fors Fortuna bars with a new design by the same talented Italian artist, Carmen Testa. It features the Roman goddess of fortune, and the personification of luck, a popular deity in the civilisation centred around the modern Italian capital over 2,000 years ago. She was worshipped in a sacellum (a small, open-roof shrine) on the right bank of the Tiber river. She differed from other personifications of wealth, in not striving for balance, but rather representing the capriciousness of life.

The first bar depicted her naked, and traditionally blindfolded, while sitting on the coat-of-arms of Le Grand Mint, rather than the wheel, or ship’s rudder normally present. Coins tumbled from her hand, and the background was a repeating pattern forming LGM’s initials. This second bar keeps all of those elements, differing in the pose of the goddess, where she is standing with her back to us. The back of the bar carries over.

An attractive interpretation of good fortune, there are gold and silver bars available. Gold comes in 0.5g (999 mintage), and 1.0g (999), sizes, with no sign at present of the 20g bar. Silver is unchanged with 1oz (5,000), and 2oz (2,500) variants. We like this one a lot, combining a sensible choice of weights, with great-looking artwork. Available to order now, they come in blisterpacks with a COA.