The tenth issue in Numiscollect’s fascinating ‘Archaeology and Symbolism’ series features one of the most fascinating objects from the ancient world – the Antikythera Mechanism. Described as possibly the oldest example of an analogue computer, it was designed to predict astronomical positions and eclipses, perhaps decades in advance. Work on exactly how it was designed is still the subject of much debate and examination.

This new release continues to display the march of progress, with enhanced relief and detail, aided no doubt by the employment of smartminting. The mechanism is displayed in the centre of the coin, and there are some terrific, intricate figures, almost like a miniature Parthenon facade, surrounding it. A beautiful coin.

There are three variants, one antiqued, one gilded, and one antiqued with partial gilding. We love the partially gilded one, but we’ve long preferred that version of this series. They’re big as well, spanning 65 mm in diameter, which is great for a three-ounce coin. This post is just a quicklook, but we do have a full Coin Series Profile of the range up, and it’s just been revamped and modernised. Feel free to check it out. This series is well worth it, in our view.