The skull is back with giant version of the original hit issue and a new pirate-themed coin

As the ANA show kicks off, we’re taking a look at the new CIT coins, some of the most eagerly awaited of all the coins released around this time. After the latest Evolution of Life coin we looked at earlier today comes another sequel to one of last years hit coins; Skull No.1, as well as a hefty variant.

First up is Big Skull, a half-kilo version of Skull No.1 that exhibits a seemingly extraordinary amount of relief for a struck design. As you can see above, at around sixteen times the size of its inspiration, Big Skull is an impressive beast. There’s a lot more detail visible here, taking full advantage of the surfeit of metal to work with. In all other respects it is exactly what it looks like – a big Skull No.1 and all the better for it.

We speculated about a true follow-on from last years coin, wondering if a cultural or archaeological theme would take hold and now our query has been answered. Pirate skull goes full-on with a great looking design complete with bandana, earings and missing teeth. The same one-ounce in weight as Skull No.1, this is a clever and attractive variation on the theme.

Both come boxed with a certificate of authenticity; the small coin in the same tin as last years and the beast in a gloss black box of what looks to be of extremely high quality. In addition to these two, a 0.5 g minigold pirate coin with a 15,000 mintage will also be available and we’ll look at that another time. That one will be available in October, while the two silver coins will ship a month later. We like this pair a lot.

2017 BIG SKULL AND PIRATE SKULL SILVER COINS

MINTS DESCRIPTION

Following the overall surge in popularity in skull designs and the huge success of the Skull No1 coin and its small gold equivalent, CIT proudly introduces three additional coin skulls in 2017.

Headlining the new releases is undoubtedly the Big Skull. A special shape combined with CIT’s smartminting© high relief technology produced an incredible, three dimensional relief on Skull No1 that becomes even more astounding on its hefty half-kilo big brother that ships in a luxurious collector’s box and is limited to 555 pieces. A set of branded cotton gloves for handling this behemoth is included.

The direct successor of the 1oz Skull No1 is the gruff Pirate Skull, a derivative of the original with an equally impressive relief and antique finish. Lastly, the little Golden Skull also received a pirate treatment and now features cross bones behind the aged skull.

SPECIFICATION

NAME 2017 GIANT SKULL 2017 PIRATE SKULL
DENOMINATION $25 Palau $5 Palau
COMPOSITION 0.999 silver 0.999 silver
WEIGHT ~ 500 grams 31.1 grams
DIMENSIONS 80 x 52 mm 38 x29 mm
FINISH Antique Antique
MODIFICATIONS Ultra high-relief Ultra high-relief
MINTAGE 555 1,750
BOX / COA Yes / Yes Yes / Yes