Launched back in 2018, the Eastern Caribbean 8 program had Scottsdale Mint offer bullion coin designs for the eight countries that fall under the umbrella of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. Most of these are small islands, all but one having a population below 150,000 people, and many by quite some margin, so a centralised bank for them all made considerable sense. For many of these small nations, the coins in this range represent their first and only bullion coins.

The idea behind the range is to issue gold and silver coins for the eight islands, with each getting an all-new design each year. There’s been quite a break since the final 2024 coin was issued, but finally, we’re getting the 2025 selection to add to the huge range of 56 designs released to date. The mint had been issuing them in pairs, and that continues here with the release of a design for Anguilla, and one for Antigua & Barbuda. Running through each nations range is a theme that reappears with some regularity. With Anguilla, it’s the sailing regatta, which I was fortunate to see when I lived there back in 2005/6, and it’s the fourth of the eight coins issued for Anguilla to carry this theme. For Antigua & Barbuda, their piracy and alcohol links have been the subject of five of their eight, which are collectively called Rum Runner. Both of the 2025 coins are excellent, and we think a step up from earlier coins as far as artistic ambition is concerned.

The one-ounce gold, and one-ounce silver bullion coins return as before, with the former sealed in Scottsdale Mint’s serialised ‘Certi-Lock’ secure packaging. The latter is encapsulated on a board, and can be bought in strips of five as well, or the usual tubes of 20. The silver can also be bought as an ‘Alpha Strike’, basically a first day of production coin, and these are also packaged in a themed Certi-Lock card. The big change is the replacement of the coloured gold and silver proof variants with a single coloured, one-ounce silver bar carrying a unique design. A nice change given the market for a gold proof in particular, must be microscopic these days. The Anguillan bar is a little bland, but the Antiguan one is a fine effort. Each is blister mounted and capped at 999 pieces. See all the previous designs in our Bullion Profile. Available to order now.