Berlin WMF 25: Mint XXI kicks off the year with over a dozen new coins. Here’s our first look at three of them.

The 2025 World Money Fair in Berlin kicks off next week, and the big producers are announcing their first big releases of the year. One of those we most look forward to is Mint XXI, and here we are with a first look at three of them. We’ll have another three tomorrow, with the rest early next week. There’s a pair of coins that are additions to existing series, but we’re starting with a highly unique new design.

Without question, Michelangelo’s statue of David, is one of the most iconic, and widely recognisable works of art in history. It’s also no stranger to the coin world, appearing on quite a diverse selection over the years, but we’ve never seen it imagined like this, using an esoteric Japanese art form called Kintsugi. This centuries old method involves repairing broken pottery with an Urushi lacquer, mixed with powdered precious metal, usually gold, but sometimes platinum or silver. It’s a celebration of the damage, and an acceptance of it, giving the pieces a highly distinctive character of their own.

What Mint XXI has done is depict a traditional view of the head of the statue, and then have it look as if it were repaired using Kintsugi. The ‘cracks’ are filled with gilding, and they cover the whole face of the coin, suggesting that the coin is the subject of the repair, rather than the statue itself. It’s an intensely striking depiction, and quite unique, enhanced by different textures in the background.

The obverse continues the theme, using the spaces between the gilded lines to hold the inscribed issue details. It’s a bold melding of 15th-century Renaissance, and 15th century Japanese art, and more importantly, a gorgeous coin. A fantastic start to 2025.

KINTSUGI ART: 2025 DAVID

Mint XXI have a fine track record when it comes to coins featuring the evergreen subject of ancient mythology, having embarked on an ambitious multi-sized, 36-coin set called The Great Greek Mythology, amongst others. Last year saw the release of another series in this genre, although one leaning more towards history, than the mystical, and based around the Norse peoples.

Unlike the Greek series, this one is fixed on the two-ounce format, and will run to twelve issues, so one that many might decide to collect in its entirety, rather than dip into, as we suspect Great Greek Mythology buyers do, simply because of its scale. It’s also, in my opinion at least, an ever better series, with designs to date being consistently first class.

The fifth coin depicts Harald Fairhair, the purported first king of a unified Norway, who was said to rule (there is some dispute on his reality) from 872 to 930. He’s a national icon in Norway. The coin is simply outstanding. The pose, undertaken with a fine grasp of anatomical correctness, affirms this warrior’s power over his kingdom, part of which can be seen in the background. Just the cloak on his shoulders is coloured, framing his head, and forming a focal point.

The common obverse returns, and is a fine example of the type, themed accurately for the series. In our view, this remains one of the finest numismatic series in production today, and collectors who build a set should consider themselves fortunate to own them. The packaging is neat, and there’s a collection folder, both of which you can see below from earlier articles.

THE WAY TO VALHALLA 05: 2025 HARALD FAIRHAIR

The producer’s ‘The Dragonology’ series, carries on into 2025 with a fifth entrant themed around the pairing between these incredibly popular mythical creatures, and beautiful women. To date, they’ve been issued at two-per-year, so we’d expect another design to appear in 2025, perhaps over the summer. We’ve got the series on our list of Coin Series Profiles to come, so look out for that.

It’s another beautiful design, although given the previous four coins were so good, we’d expect nothing less. Each of the issues heavily leans on a limited colour palette for the theme, although they’re by no means monochromatic, and in this case, it’s a mix of white and ginger. It’s all quite ethereal, and this design is particularly elegant because the dragon is a hydra, complete with five heads snaking around the coin, framing the woman.

The obverse is of a design common to the series, except for the colour of the eye, which is matched with that on the reverse face. It’s another terrific release in one of Mint XXI’s finest ranges. It comes boxed with a C.O.A., of course.

THE DRAGONOLOGY 05: 2025 MYTHICAL HYDRA

ISSUE DENOMINATION COMPOSITION DIMENSION FINISH MINTAGE
DAVID 2,000 Francs CFA (Cameroon) 62.2 g of 0.999 silver 50.0 mm Antique, Gilding 299
VALHALLA 2,000 Francs CFA (Cameroon) 62.2 g of 0.999 silver 50.0 mm Antique, Colour 500
DRAGON 2,000 Francs CFA (Cameroon) 62.2 g of 0.999 silver 50.0 mm Antique, Colour 500