Dungeons & Dragons comes to the coin world with the first issue in the Dragonlance Chronicles

Is there anybody that hasn’t at least heard of Dungeons and Dragons? Next year will see the 50th anniversary of the popular role-playing game, one so iconic it has penetrated almost every field of modern culture. It appears the modern coin world has resisted so far, but no more, as the Carpathian Mint, via the franchise licence holder and mint partner, Silvercoins Europe, has debuted the first in a wide range of coins over the coming years.

There are multiple subsets in the D&D universe, one of the most famous of which is the mid-80s ‘Dragonlance Chronicles’, a trilogy of books that’s since gone on to expand in its own right, and are now a core part of the mythos. The first of the books, published in 1984, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and called “Dragons of Autumn Twilight“, provides the inspiration for the first release.

The reverse face depicts “the main six heroes Tanis, Caramon, Sturm, Tasselhof, Goldmoon and Flint, fighting for their lives against the black dragon Onyx, to rescue Raistlin from his clutches, in the ruins of Xak Tsaroth”. Never having read the books, we’ll assume this is a pivotal scene – it certainly looks it! The level of action packed into this coin face is quite extraordinary, even by the standards of the genre.

There’s literally no part that doesn’t have an element of the scene depicted on it in detail. The heroes fill the foreground space, the black dragon the top half, its wings spread. In an unusual twist for this type of high-relief, antiqued coin, the whole face is coloured. Usually, we’ll see some highlighting, but not in this case, and the producer has employed the colour style they debuted recently with their Homer’s Odyssey coin. Colouring a coin with relief like this is difficult enough, so we’ll be interested to see the finished article.

The obverse is equally packed to the rim, although eschewing colour for the ever-reliable and attractive antiqued finish. In amongst the thorns lies Loren Soth, “aka Knight of the Black Rose, who commands an army of undead under the command of Kitiara Uth Matar, traitorous friend of the heroes of the Lance and one of the main commanders of Takishis, the Queen of Darkness”. The seal of Niue is expertly incorporated, the thorns seemingly curving around it.

This three-ounce coin will come boxed with a heavily themed Certificate of Authenticity, and the mintage of 1,000 reflects the incredible popularity of a game that has spanned generations. An action-packed coin, and one that makes a nice change from the usual mythology subjects. Proof indeed that the modern imagination is the equal of the ancient one, despite our age of knowledge and understanding. The coin should be available to order as we write, and it should ship in September. A series to watch, for sure.