Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, widely regarded as the greatest writer in his native Spanish, wrote his hit novel in 1605. Called ‘The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha’, it tells the story of the title character and his many adventures with his horse Rocinante, and his squire, Sancho Panza, most of which are distortions of fantasies he has in his head.

It’s a lightly comedic work, but with a deeper layer reflecting on the nature of man, and the conflict between realism and fantasy. Don Quixote was published in two parts, and is widely considered the first modern novel. It remains one of the best-selling books of all time, and one of the most translated. Cervantes holds the same esteem in Spain as Shakespeare does in England. It’s a fertile breeding ground for interesting numismatics.

Spanish producer, Asturmint, are the latest to take on the challenge with this terrific one-ounce proof silver coin. The image of Don Quixote, Rocinante, and Panza is full of the whimsy that permeates the novels, and it reminds me of some of the art created for Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ novels, which I consider high praise indeed. They appear over a micro-engraved wall of text, which constitutes the first two chapters of the novel, a great touch.

While the coin is issued for Cameroon, the obverse eschews the usual obverse design for the coat-of-arms of Philip II and III, who ruled Spain when Cervantes wrote Don Quixote. Created with four different finishes, it’s a pleasantly surprising design to find, and very much on theme. Supplied on a large credit-card style blisterpack, all superbly themed (love the colour reproduction of the coin art), the mintage is set at 2,000 pieces, and it’s available to order now.