As well as the Back to the Future coin we just looked at, monster hit Jurassic Park also has a 1oz silver (0.999) bullion coin available to order now. Also issued for Niue, thus carrying the same QEII effigy on its obverse, it depicts the now super famous logo of the fictional theme park. The silhouette of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skull has become synonymous with the movies, although we're left in little [...]
The limited run bullion coin market continues to diversify with the launch of a couple of new media franchise coins. The first one we're looking at is a 10,000 mintage 1oz silver (0.999) coin themed around the popular Back to the Future movies. We've covered a few new issues in the higher-end commemorative market of late, but this is the first bullion coin we've seen. Issued for Niue, it features the iconic [...]
The second movie in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets premiered in 2002 and was based on the 1998 novel by J. K. Rowling. It went on to gross over $879m, beaten in 2002 only by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It tells the story of Potters second year at Hogwarts and the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing a monster within the school. The [...]
A series that debuted back in 2015 with the Amber Scarabaeus, the Mint of Poland's Ancient Egyptian themed series has evolved by taking the same basic design - an Egyptian atyle beetle - and decorating it with different types of plating, colour and minerals. In all, it's been quite an eclectic mix, and one we'll probably do a Coin Series Profile on soon.These remain 17.5 gram 0.999 silver coins, issued for Niue and [...]
The much loved Robert Zemeckis time-travel comedy ‘Back to the Future’ has spawned a small number of commemorative coins over the last few years, starting with a 30th anniversary range of issues from the Perth Mint in 2015. It wasn't until March this year that The Coin Company came back with a neat coloured silver coin, fairly standard in nature, but with some custom packaging that raised it into something fans would have loved. That [...]
A phenomenon that has travelled far from its Japanese homeland, Chibi (ちび or チビ) is slang for short and is applied to various pop culture genres today. Chief amongst those are the small, chubby caricatures with their small bodies and over-sixed heads - also called super-deformed (SD). A popular style in anime and manga, and also with the Funko figures that are seemingly everywhere these days, we're actually surprised the concept has taken this long [...]
You have to go back six years for the first New Zealand Mint Disney coin. They chose the original Mickey Mouse short, Steamboat Willie, and it came in a full range of sizes up to a staggering kilo of gold. Now the subject is back for a reissue in amore limited form. There are very few changes to the design, just the expected inscriptions showing difference.This time the range is limited to a [...]
The latest in the New Zealand Mint's attractive 'Guards of the Empire' Star Wars themed coin series is upon us, and after looking at the various layers of cannon fodder that makes up the Empire's bulk, we get a look at the elite. The red armour clad Praetorian Guards, named after the bodyguards were the last line of defence for the leader of the First Order, and like the rest of the Empire's forces, they [...]
Launching in April, the New Zealand Mint issued the first Archangel in a new series of rectangular 1oz silver coins - Gabriel. The second is here now and features a depiction of the Archangel Michael from a stained-glass window in Hull Minster in England. A beautiful piece of art by Mary Hutchinson, Gabriel was also based on her work in this superb 13th century building. You can read more about it in [...]
This isn't the first time the iconic Imperial battlestation, the Death Star, has appeared on a coin as part of the New Zealand Mint's extensive Star Wars range. In September 2018, the moon-sized instrument of destruction featured as the subject of a 2oz ultra-high relief silver coin, with a suitably healthy price tag. It's back as part of the mints long-running Star Wars Classic series in cheaper form, and also in gold, which isn't...There are [...]
