Meteorite adorned coins are clearly one of the hottest properties in the numismatic world at the moment, attracting big name mints, cool design, and plenty of innovation. They’ve been around for some time, with a new wave really kicking off in 2009 with a Moon and a Mars coin issued for the Cook Islands. Unlike the often high-quality presentation of the new wave, many of these early coins either came with no packaging outside of a capsule, or with a generic tin that could be purchased seperately. Given that many of these coins now sell for some quite serious sums, it seems a shame there isn’t a better way to collect them together.
It isn’t always a major mint or coin producer that comes up with a cool idea; sometimes it just takes the skill and desire of a driven enthusiast to take up a challenge and produce something special. Enter Daniel, EBay user traditional-artisan. Daniel has the same problem many others have, a liking for ever appreciating meteorite coins combined with an annoyance at having to keep them all scattered and loose in a box. He decided to do something about it, and in our view has done a superb job.
Cast in coloured polyurethan resin, the meteorite shaped case hinges open to reveal four equally-themed trays, each capable of holding 6 coins to a maximum capsule size of 43.5/44 mm. This should fit the newer Mint of Poland series, as well as the older Cook Island series. Many other coins also fit within this range. The insert in each tray with the capsule cut-outs can be removed to accept other coin sizes, and although the coins wont be quite as securely held in place, this is hardly an item you’re going to shake about. The lid has a compartment to hold the obligatory Certificates of Authenticity, and the whole is clamped together with some innocuous magnets.
Coming it at 26 x 21 x 17 cm in size and weighing a chunky 2.1kg, the first run of these constitutes just four examples, and we reckon the box is the perfcet solution for the meteorite, or space coin collector. For a handcrafted limited-run item like this, the price of €115 seems perfectly reasonable, and we think that if you want one, grab it now. It’s great to see items like these come on the market from such unlikely sources and we hope it turns out to be a success.
Really well made, looks great!
It’s good to see people put in the effort to make things like this with such obvious care. He’s working on more stuff and we’ll report on them as we get information as we think this is certainly worth supporting.