Crown Mint continues their Marvel Icon dimensional silver coin series with a striking Black Panther

It isn’t just the NZ Mint producing dimensional masks of movie franchise characters, with the Crown Mint having issued their Marvel icons series since 2019. Following their Iron Man and Spiderman releases, they’ve now added Black Panther to the range, with what looks like a significant upgrade to detail.

A huge hit on release, the Black Panther movie, starring the sadly departed Chadwick Boseman, was filled with some great cultural imagery and iconography, none more so than Black Panther’s high-tech suit. Fortunately, it appears that the mint has managed to incorporate all of that detail on this ultra-high relief coin. Spiderman and Iron Man have comparitively simpler surface detail on their headgear, so it’s good to see that when the going gets tougher, there are no compromises.

Also unlike previous issues, this one looks beautifully coloured, eschewing an intense black for something that matches the movie incarnation perfectly. The obverse, which holds the Fijiian coat of arms, is antique finished. To top it off, the included Certificate of Authenticity is itself made of two grams of fine silver, to add to the two-ounces that make up the coin itself.

Hard to find fault here. A terrific looking item done full justice by the mint and very well presented. Not a type of coin for everyone, of course, but fans of the MCU, of which there are legions, will find much to love here. The mintage of 5,000 means it should be easy to pick up and not suffer heavy early appreciation, Issues like this broaden the appeal of coin collecting, and that’s a good thing for all of us. Available to order now.

BLACK PANTHER

Black Panther is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Jack Kirby, first appearing in Fantastic Four #52 (cover-dated July 1966) in the Silver Age of Comic Books. Black Panther’s real name is T’Challa, and he is depicted as the king and protector of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Along with possessing enhanced abilities achieved through ancient Wakandan rituals of drinking the essence of the heart-shaped herb, T’Challa also relies on his proficiency in science, rigorous physical training, hand-to-hand combat skills, and access to wealth and advanced Wakandan technology to combat his enemies.

Black Panther is the first superhero of African descent in mainstream American comics, having debuted years before early black superheroes such as Marvel Comics’ the Falcon (1969), Luke Cage (1972), and Blade (1973) or DC Comics’ John Stewart in the role of Green Lantern (1971). In one comic book storyline, the Black Panther mantle is handled by Kasper Cole, a multiracial New York City police officer. Beginning as an impersonator, Cole would later take on the moniker of White Tiger and become an ally to T’Challa. The role of Black Panther and leadership of Wakanda was also given to T’Challa’s sister Shuri for a short time. (Wikipedia)