After a successful run of coins in their ‘Knights of the Past’ series, Germania Mint continues its partnership with the Mediterranean island of Malta with a new coin depicting Nicolaus Copernicus. The Polish polymath, astronomer, and mathematician, came to prominence with a theory postulating the Earth orbited the Sun, and not vice versa, as was widely taught. Given he was a Catholic canon, it was quite an achievement, but remarkably, his theories were well received by the Catholic Church.

The depiction, by artist Natalia Danysz, is an exceptional one, especially for a silver bullion coin. The portrait shows a learned man, but not an arrogant one, and the Sun, set over orbital rings and stars, sits to the side of it. Clean, simple, and very effective – a terrific design. The obverse continues the orbital path theme, along with the first six planets upon them, Earth looking particularly distinctive. A stylised sun sits in the centre, and the Maltese coat-of-arms occupies a space like it was another planet. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are absent, as the first of those was not discovered until 1781.

There are three variants in this debut launch. The bullion coin, with its themed blisterpack, has a 15,000 mintage, and the sun on the reverse face is coloured. The antique-finished coin with an inset amber sun, is a full numismatic, weighing in at two-ounces, and presented in one of those superb custom frames that Germania does so well. We have the earlier dinosaur, and one of the knights coins here in those frames, and they look great. In memory of the year of his death, the mintage is set at 1,473 pieces. Finally, there’s a gold bullion one with a rose-gilded sun, sporting a mintage of just 200 pieces, and with some quality presentation, it’s more of a collector’s piece.

We were lucky to get sent a sample of the silver bullion variant by the mint (thanks folks!), and can confirm it looks to be a fine quality strike. We’ve done one of our AgAuShoots for you to get a better look at the finished article. All versions should be available for pre-order right now. A fine release, commemorating the death of a true giant of mankind’s scientific progress.