The Germania Mint’s fifth release in its flagship Lady Germania range has now debuted, and it does so with a new idea. The first two issues in this series were traditional bullion designs, using the same image across all different sizes of the coin. However, in 2021, they introduced a new concept. The 1 oz coin had a close view of Lady Germania, and as the coins got larger, the view expanded to encompass more of the surrounding scene. A neat idea, it was revisited in 2022. For 2023, however, it’s been reworked to be even more impressive.

The 1 oz coin has Germania walking into view with a sheathed shield, her bird in flight, and a shield planted in the ground mostly obscured behind her. On the 2 oz, 10 oz, and one-kilo coins, the scene progresses gradually, as she unsheathes her sword, and plants it in the ground, then kneeling. The eagle alights on a rock, and the shield is more fully seen. The four different images tell a short story, and it looks brilliant.

The only downside, for us, is that most won’t ever get to see the bigger designs, so we’d really like to see a special edition set of four, one-ounce coins carrying the four different pieces of art. A proof finish set would be good, but a bullion set would be better. There are proof silver and gold one-ounce coins carrying the kilo design, however. The superb obverse eagle design remains. All told, our favourite traditional bullion design of the year to date. Check out our Bullion Profile for the earlier coins, and we’ll add this one very shortly.

A staple of the bullion market since 2017, the Czech Lion is a series that gets a new design annually. Initially taking a more heraldic approach to its subject, the series has expanded with some far more striking designs of late, and the 2023 offering is no exception. The lion here exudes power – a very striking view by a favourite of ours, Asamat Baltaev. The face of the beast stares out over a St. Wenceslas crown. A superb look, and our favourite of the series to date.

The coin is a Niue issue, as is most of the Czech Mint’s output, and that island nation’s emblem takes pride of place on the obverse, along with some heavily stylised Czech imagery. We’ve shown the one-ounce gold, and the one-ounce silver variants here, but the range is far more extensive. Gold runs from 0.5 gram, through 1/25, 1/4, 1/2, 5.0, and 10.0 oz versions, through to a kilo. There have even been limited runs of 5 kg and 10 kg in the past. Silver starts at the popular 1 oz, and adds 2 oz, 5 oz, 10 oz, 1 kg and likely a 3 kg. There are also 3 kg and 5 kg proof variants, and even platinum and palladium coins. A very nice coin.

Along with the Czech Lion, the Czech Mint also produces the Slovak Eagle. The range is a little younger, going back to 2021, and this is the third design to date, and probably the best. Having strong echoes of John Mercanti’s work on the Perth Mint’s Wedge-Tailed Eagle range, it depicts a Golden Eagle in flight over a mountain, specifically Kriváň in the Tatra Mountains. A very pretty design, with good anatomy, and a fine placement on the coin face.

Despite its Slovak theme, the coin is another Niue issue, However, that hasn’t prevented the mint customising it, decorating it with ornaments of the Čičmanský pattern, which is a unique addition to Slovak folk architecture. The coin is the work of the medal maker MgA. Martin Dašek.

It’s the Czech Mint, so there are plenty of options with regard to weight. Silver comes in a 1 oz, 2 oz, 5 oz, 10 oz, and 1 kg. Gold is available in 1/25 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, 1 oz, 5 oz, 10 oz, and 1 kg. You really can find anything amongst the various Czech Mint ranges here.

An interesting idea, this one harks back to historical numismatics for inspiration, and like the National Bank of Poland’s ‘History of Polish Coin’ series, features depictions of old coins on both faces. On the reverse, there’s three Jáchymov thalers, the coin that originated on the estate of the Šlik dynasty in the Ore Mountains in 1520, and spread around the world in many forms. The images are bound by an inscribed border area.

The obverse face carries the obverse images of three US dollar coins, something that is claimed ultimately owes its existence to its Czech 16th century forebear. It’s all quite unique in the bullion world, and deserves credit for that. Like most Czech Mint bullion coins, it’s a Niue issue.

The silver range is quite varied, with a 1 oz, 20 oz, 1 kg, 3 kg, and 5 kg weights – quite an eclectic selection. Gold is equally unusual, comprising a 1/25 oz, 1/4 oz, 1 oz, 5 oz, 10 oz, 100 oz, and 100 oz. There’s a 1 oz proof silver for the collector, with a mintage of 1,000 pieces.

The twelve-coin Prehistoric Life series from Emporium Hamburg enters its final year, with the first of three 2023 coins that will see the series conclude. The tenth coin features Titanoboa, an almost horrifyingly large constricting snake that tipped the scales in excess of a tonne. The image on the coin looks okay, but doesn’t really give us a sense of scale. It did prey on crocodiles, but the contemporary species were relatively small, with the giants like Sarcosuchus, Deinosuchus and Purussaurus living tens of millions of years earlier or later than Titanoboa. Its diet is considered to have been mainly fish.

A wider range than many here, it’s also a more affordable one as a result. There are one-ounce silver coins in clean-struck, and coloured forms, while gold is covered not with an expensive one-ounce coin, but rather with a half-gram minigold. It’s good to see this, as we’re constantly dismayed at the slow death of fractional gold bullion. You can see the issues to date in our Coin Series Profile to the range.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse series was one of those excellent Mint of Poland struck coin ranges using their rimless, antiqued, high-relief, two-ounce silver format, and one of the better ones. It now seems the coin has appeared in Carpathian Mint’s repertoire, and made the transition to bullion form.

The design is basically the same, although obviously missing all of that glorious high-relief. It looks good, although there’s quite a lot going on. The obverse is a fine one, and will likely remain common to the series of four coins (we feel it unlikely the completer coin will make the jump, certainly in one-ounce form). Weirdly, the Niue issuance has gone, replaced with a faux denomination of 5 Thalers, and the emblem is Carpathian Mint’s own. This makes it technically a round, much like Germania Mint’s range, although the latter has carefully crafted a whole range around the theme as well. It remains to be seen what Carpathian Mint does with the concept moving forward. A nice debut, and the 10k mintage is attractive.