With Star Wars very much in the ascendant at the moment, it remains the New Zealand Mints biggest licence. An old hand at licenced coin properties, the NZM has released entertainment tie-ins for years, like Doctor Who, Disney and Thunderbirds. With the big competitor Star Trek, being snapped up by the Perth and Royal Canadian Mints, it’s a good time to be a sci-fi coin collector. The simultaneous release of the final three Force Awakens coins today won’t go unnoticed either.

After Darth Vader, Han Solo, and Yoda, the next big character to launch in the flagship Classic Star Wars range will be everybody’s favourite droid, the astromech R2-D2. As before, the clean-struck coin will be available in one and quarter ounce gold variants, and as a one-ounce silver.  The Vader coin was also available, although not at launch, as a Deathstar-sized one-kilo coin, but no subsequent issue has appeared in the format, so we guess the demand wasn’t great enough. Mintages for R2-D2 remain at 10,000 for the silver, with the gold at 1,000 for the ¼oz and 500 for the 1oz.

Packaging is as decent as ever and remains in line with previous releases. Unlike the Yoda coin, which took the unusual, but effective step of cropping the design for the smaller gold coin, the artwork remains the same for all three variants. Prices stay at US, $85.00 for the silver, $620.00 for the smaller gold, and $2,500 for the larger. With Star Wars set to continue to be a huge, dominant force in movies for many years to come, these coins will no doubt prove equally popular as time passes. The coins should be up for sale later today.

COIN IMAGES

MINTS DESCRIPTION

After its release in 1977, Star Wars captured the head and minds of a generation around the world.

 

R2-D2 is the fourth character to feature in the Star Wars Classic coin collection.

REVERSE: This coin features R2-D2 being sold by the Jawas to Luke Skywalker and his step-uncle Owen Lars in Star Wars: A New Hope.

OBVERSE: This features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

PACKAGING: The Star Wars Classic: R2-D2 coin comes presented in a high-quality Star Wars themed coin packaging. The packaging makes this an ideal gift for any Star Wars fan. The Certificate of Authenticity sits within the coin case.

OBVERSE & PRESENTATION

BACK STORY

R2-D2

Pronounced Artoo-Detoo, was an R2 series astromech droid whose memory had never been wiped, resulting in an adventurous and independent attitude. Starting with Queen Amidala of Naboo, the droid went on to serve Senator Bail Organa, Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker and then Poe Dameron. It’s currently still with the rebel forces.

Playing pivotal roles in all the major events of the time, including the fall of the Republic, the Clone Wars, and the Rebellion, the droid has left, and continues to leave, an enduring legacy on the Star Wars Universe like no other character, along with his best friend C3-PO.

THE COIN SCENE

In this scene, R2-D2 is being bought by Luke Skywalker and his uncle Owen Lars from the race of scavengers called the Jawa. Picked up by the Jawas in the desert after landing there in an escape pod, Artoo carried the plans to the Empires new Death Star superweapon.

Luke and Artoo became inseperable from this point on. Kicking off the whole Star Wars adventure, the little astromech droid revealed the hidden message to Luke, who then felt obligated to make sure the droids message got to the rebellion forces.

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SPECIFICATION

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$250 NEW ZEALAND 0.9999 GOLD 31.1 g 32.0 mm PROOF  500 YES / YES
$25 NEW ZEALAND 0.9999 GOLD 7.78 g 22.0 mm PROOF 1,000 YES / YES
$2 NEW ZEALAND 0.999 SILVER 31.1 g 40.0 mm PROOF 10,000 YES / YES

MINT LINK