Berlin WMF 25: Time and space, along with a little death, mark our second look at Mint XXI’s latest winter launch
After yesterday’s look at three of the new coins from Mint XXI’s winter release in time for the Berlin World Money Fair, we’re back for another three, and this time, it’s a solitary addition to an existing series, and a pair of all-new additions to their impressive portfolio.
First out of the gate is a coin titled in the Latin for ‘If you want peace, prepare for war’, a statement taken from a 4th/5th century CE work ‘Dē Rē Mīlitāri’, by the Roman writer, Publius Falvius Vegetius Renatus. The meaning is clear, that if you want to have your nation live in peace, carry a big stick. You could argue that the ultimate expression of this is the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, as typified by the employment of nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War, but it works on a lesser scale as well.
The coin stays within the Roman period of its author, depicting a Centurion, long dead, but maintaining a vigilance, and armed to the teeth. It’s a powerful design, getting the concept over very clearly. There’s a detailed, and vibrantly coloured area in the middle of the reverse face, dipping behind the soldier, and giving the whole design a fine sense of depth.
The obverse carries on the colour theme, evoking the Roman love of purple/deep red, and it depicts something akin to a clock, or a sundial. The coin comes boxed with a C.O.A. and has a mintage capped at 500 pieces. An unusual theme, and an unusual take on it.
It’s fair to say that this coin, tipping the scales at five ounces, is the flagship release of the winter launch. It’s also the first in a new series called ‘Gold Grandeur’, so it’s fair to say we’re going to see more gilding as the series progresses, but it’s fair to say it’s kicked off in style, with our favourite shiny metal in evidence everywhere.
Ancient Egypt had a love of gold that’s evident from the thousands of artefacts covered in it, or even, in the case of Tutankhamun’s legendary mask, made from it. Embedded with precious gems and minerals, like amber and Lapis Lazuli, the Egyptians had a serious love of bling, and Mint XXI have played into that perfectly.
Depicting the Egyptian goddess Isis, one of the most important in their mythology, it shows her with the classic outspread wings, and wearing a quite extravagant headpiece, inset in which is an amber orb signifying the sun disc. There’s also six turquoise orbs inset around the reverse face, along with some intense colour, and some selective polishing. It’s all very Ancient Egyptian.
The obverse is also fully gilded, and also classically Egyptian, employing multiple common elements of their lore. The centre is dominated by a part polished scarab, which is spread over an ankh, which is itself overlaid on a background of vertical hieroglyphics. The modern issue details are inscribed here, as you’d expect. A fine celebration of one of the mankind’s most important early civilisations.
Our final coin of this trio is the third release in a fascinating series. We’ve had many years of meteorite coins – those depicting an impact or similar, and holding a small embedded fragment of an actual meteorite – but none have utilised such an impressive chunk of it, with the cube measuring 16 x 16 mm, and weighing in at an ounce.
The actual silver coin here, also an ounce in weight, has been relegated to being a base/stand for a cube of actual meteorite material. Despite that, Mint XXI haven’t taken the lazy way out with a common design, and each of the three issues to date, the earlier ones being Aletai and Campo Del Cielo, have borne a unique look. The first pair sported variations of a spiral, but for this coin, Muonionalusta, has something more akin to an impact pattern. At its centre is a pyramidal impression, designed to hold the meteorite cube at an angle.
The obverse is common to the series, and comparatively simple in design. The star of this release remains the utterly gorgeous meteorite cubes. You can see those Widmanstätten crystal patterns, now more accurately called Thomson structures after the 19th century English mineralogist William Thomson, who discovered them earlier, all over the cube. The structure is formed from the slow cooling of the iron-nickel in space. Muonionalusta is believed to have impacted the Earth around one million years ago, but is itself, substantially older, perhaps 4.5 billion years in age. It blows the mind when you think about it.
As someone with a passion for geology, this series has always had extra appeal, and while it’s more insert than numismatic, the finished article is a superb example of the natural world, and of just how insignificant we are as a species.
ISSUE | DENOMINATION | COMPOSITION | DIMENSION | FINISH | MINTAGE |
PARA BELLUM | 2,000 Francs CFA (Cameroon) | 62.2 g of 0.999 silver | 50.0 mm | Antique, Gilding | 500 |
ISIS | 5,000 Francs CFA (Cameroon) | 155.5 g of 0.999 silver | 65.0 mm | Gilded, Colour, Inserts | 333 |
SPACE CUBE | 5 Cedis (Ghana) | 31.1 g of 0.999 silver | 28.0 mm | Antique, Cube | 500 |
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