Most have heard of the Seven Sins, as they’ve been widely referenced in film, literature, and even the precious metal realm. Less well known outside of religious circles are the Seven Virtues of chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience, and humility. Compiled together in the 5th century by Prudentius, but based on much older concepts, in his poem Psychomachia, they were represented as female personifications, doing battle with the seven sins. The sins were revised by Pope Gregory in 590 CE, with the virtues following shortly after, to those that we use today.

Numiscollects new series is based around the traditional pairings of vices and virtues that were seen as being in direct conflict with each other. To start off, they’re giving us chastity and lust, and that takes the form of individual one-ounce proof silver coins, one for each. Joining them is a three-ounce antiqued silver coin with high-relief, that pits them against each other in a single piece of artwork. This should be the way the series progresses in the future.

The three-ounce coin is easily the most impressive of the three. The border, and the ‘frame’ that runs vertically through the centre of this face, are done in a Baroque style, looking as if taken from the frame of a renaissance painting. It’s intricate and antiqued, and nicely frames a flower at the bottom, which is the only point the two halves of the coloured images actually meet, throwing the contrast between them into sharp relief. Lust, themed in a vibrant red perhaps suggesting Hell, is depicted as a scantily clad beauty enjoying a good booze-up, and trying to entice the viewer, perhaps. Chastity is done in white, a colour associated with purity. She has a serene look, carries a cross, and is surrounded by gentle nature. Some nice art on both sides, which isn’t subtle, but gets the message across.

The antiqued obverse, which will likely be common to the series, continues that Baroque theme within the border, which surrounds the Public Seal of Niue, along with the issue details. The coin comes boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity. A nice debut, with the potential to grow into a neat series for those with a fascination with the subject.

The one-ounce coins are each dedicated to a single vice or virtue, and they carry a style that will be familiar to a some releases from both Numiscollect, and their other brand, Pop Coins. A border is filled with small glyph-like images that are meant to represent the 14 concepts, so it remains identical for both the vices, and the virtues. Likewise, the obverse will be a common one, and it matches that on the three-ounce coin, although with a proof finish and standard relief.

The colour theming apes that of the bigger coin, but the artwork is different, not just in composition, but in style. There’s an almost anime look to the imagery. For those unaware, anime is a Japanese art style extensively used in animation and comic books, and which has become incredibly popular around the globe over the last decade or two. It isn’t exactly that style, but the influence is there, and will find lots of fans. I love the style personally, and I’ve been surprised at how little anime has appeared directly in the numismatic world.

The coins are boxed with a COA, and the mintage is capped at 399 pieces of each. These are obviously considerably more affordable than the bigger coin, and splitting them up lets you connect all of them, or whichever seven you find most appealing. All three of these new issues should be available to pre-order from today.