High relief coin designs are extremely popular at the moment, nearly all the world mints having at the very least dabbled with the technique. Some, like the Helvetic Mint, specalise in the technique, one much more difficult to pull off than it looks. Probably the current king of high-relief is the Choice Mint’s superb Legends of Asgard: Odin coin, shortly to be followed by the next coin in that series, Valkyrie. Now, German high-end coin producer AllCollect has gone even further with this amazing design, Lion Big Five Mauquoy.

While it can often be difficult to find out who actually strikes many coins put out by the best coin producers, AllCollect have made no attempt to cover up this information, indeed making a point of crediting the Mauquoy Mint in Belgium. They’ve even gone so far as to include the mint in the name of the coin, inscribing it on the reverse face. It’s easy to see why, as this is a strike like few others in the coin world, more akin to some of the amazing medallions put out by numerous Chinese producers. At 50mm in diameter, much like a two-ounce high-relief coin, it’s obvious that the extra three ounces of silver has gone in only one direction – depth. The coin actually approaches 12mm thick in places, quite extraordinary in the market. The obverse, depicting the emblem/crest of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, an African nation also known as Ivory Coast, is also struck much deeper than usual, but it is to the reverse face that the design shines.

Depicting the front facing portrait of a lion, this is a beautiful piece of work, combining realism with a touch of artistic licence. Perfectly framed on the coin face, the sheer three-dimensionality on offer here is almost unprecedented. Mauquoy are to be commended for their work on this one, the 140-year old company doing exceptional work. About the only thing we’d change is to move some of the inscription, specifically the coin composition, around to the obverse out of the way. We really are just nit-picking here, however. The choice of issuing state seems to fit the coin much better than a Commonwealth country like Niue would.

It’s hard to fault the presentation of the coin also, the box seemingly of a high quality, even going so far as to encapsulate the coin in a big capsule. A Certificate of Authenticity is enclosed and the serial number is engraved on the coins edge, not difficult to do when it’s this thick. A Big Five logo is also inscribed by the serial number.

Available to buy now, it’s available from quite a few well-known dealers like Powercoin, First Coin Co, TopWorldCoins and Coin Shoppe, but the mintage is only 999 so how long they’ll be available is anyone’s guess.

Mauquoy’s excellent reputation spread and was soon attracting the attention of the royal house in Europe. The seal “Handmade in Belgium” bears witness to the high quality of Mauquoy. Through this beautiful traditional minting looks the Lion very realistic. Each of this beautiful 5 ounce silver coin has an individual edge numbering.

ADVERTISEMENTS