After Captain America, Marvel’s Doctor Strange gets a domed silver coin of its own.

Superhero films continue unabated and it’s no surprise that the numismatic worlds celebration of the new ‘in’ movie genre has also kept pace. With everything from DC favourites like Batman and Superman, to Marvel giants like the Avengers, Spiderman and Captain America, coin collectors, or at least movie fans, clearly like these issues.

Doctor Strange has always been a less than mainstream character in the Marvel Comic World, not being a traditional superhero, but one based in the mystical and magical world. There’s been some speculation for years now over the production of a live action movie (there was an animated one a few years ago), but with the Marvel Comics Universe (MCU as its now known) blitzing its way through numerous box-office records, it was only a matter of time before a good director, a big-name cast, and a hefty budget were combined to make it happen.

Like the superb Captain America coin, this one also goes with a domed strike. Issued for Tuvalu instead of Fiji, the obverse carries the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, something removed from Fijiian issues a couple of years ago due to a change of government. Design-work then, remains on the reverse, convex face. Instead of going with movie scenes or character effigies, neither of which would probably sit well on a domed strike, they’ve chosen to take an iconic element of the movie and depict that. For Captain American it was his shield and it literally doesn’t get more iconic than that. It’s a little harder to do so with Doctor Strange as the character doesn’t quite have that level of association with an appropriate object, but the Seal of Vishanti certainly does the trick.

The seal is designed into the window that protects Doctor Strange’s base, the Sanctum Sanctorum, so watchers of the movie will recognise the coin face. Cleanly struck but with some gilded elements, the design is fresh and well suited to the coin, with the 50mm diameter a welcome bonus. Packaging looks first-class. A bamboo box inside a coloured shipper is a fine presentation, and the Certificate of Authenticity, itself made of two grams of fine silver, rounds out an expertly themed package. The coin should be available to ship very shortly, with pre-orders available from lots of dealers like Coin Shoppe, lpm, The Coin Vault and MCM.

Doctor Strange is a 2016 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the fourteenth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Scott Derrickson, who wrote the film with Jon Spaihts and C. Robert Cargill, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton. In Doctor Strange, surgeon Stephen Strange learns the mystic arts from the Ancient One after a career-ending car accident.

As of November 22, 2016, Doctor Strange has grossed $186.2 million in North America and $390.5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $576.7 million.  The film became the biggest IMAX opening in November domestically ($12.2 million), internationally ($24 million), and globally ($24.2 million), overtaking Interstellar’s record.

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating based on 256 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website’s critical consensus reads, “Doctor Strange artfully balances its outré source material against the blockbuster constraints of the MCU, delivering a thoroughly entertaining superhero origin story in the bargain.” On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 72 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”. On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of “A” on an A+ to F scale. (Source: Wikipedia)