After a trip to the Vikings for 2022, MDM’s shaped helmet coin range returns to Greece with the warriors of Troy

The subject of countless books, movies and other media, the Trojan War, despite the relative lack of evidence for its details, has entered popular culture as a pivotal event in the ancient world. Said by later historians to have taken place in the early 12th century BCE, it was widely believed to be a true event, with even the Romans claiming Trojan ancestry, but the reality is far murkier, and hard evidence for the war with Greece is hard to come by.

According to Homer’s Iliad, the Greeks, under the Mycenaean king, Agamemnon, attacked the city-state of Troy, ruled by King Priam, after the latter’s son, Paris, was gifted Helen of Sparta by the goddess Aphrodite. Helen was Agamemnon’s sister-in-law, the wife of Menelaus, and the quest to save her led to a ten-year siege of Troy, resulting in its fall through the use of the fabled wooden horse.

MDM debuted their ten-ounce shaped-helmet series in 2020, with a 2021-dated Spartan helmet design, finished, like this one, with an antique-bronze plating. They followed this a year later with a traditional runic Viking design (not the dumb, horned helmets that Hollywood thinks they wore), that you can see lower down. This year’s issue has tweaked the formula a little, moving from a completely head-on depiction of the helmet, to a three-quarter view. In our opinion, it’s big improvement, and suits the crested Trojan helmet much better as a result.

The antiqued bronze finish is gorgeous, enhanced with some subtle texturing and ‘damage’. This is similar to the Spartan issue, although the Viking helmet eschewed the ‘combat wear’ look, no doubt due to its more ceremonial nature. It looks exactly like you’d expect a Trojan helmet to look, although expectations and reality are often different, of course. A fine effort.

At ten ounces in weight, and with a 300 mintage, this won’t be a bargain-basement numismatic, but it looks beautifully done, is well presented, and pretty big, at around 100 mm in height. The previous two issues sold out, and we imagine this one will continue the practice. Available to order now.

SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION $10 Solomon Islands
COMPOSITION 0.999 silver
WEIGHT 311.1 grams
DIMENSIONS 100 x 63.5 mm
FINISH Antique Bronze
MODIFICATIONS Ultra high-relief, Shaped
MINTAGE 300
BOX / C.O.A. Yes / Yes