Enigmatic Mandalorian bounty hunter, Boba Fett, has his helmet join the NZ Mint’s ultra high relief coin range

One of the better of the New Zealand Mint’s many Star Wars ranges of coins and foils, the ultra high relief helmets are reproductions in silver of some of the epic movie franchises most iconic items. First to drop in 2019 was an excellent Darth Vader helmet. If you’re going to launch a new series like this, then Vader’s instantly recognisable mask is the one to go with. Earlier this year saw the addition of the equally famous Stormtrooper, and now it’s the turn of the mysterious Mandalorian bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

The coin fits the format used on the first twoi issues exactly. It’s a shaped piece with ultra-high-relief on the reverse side and an almost concave obverse. Weighing in at two-ounces of 0.999 silver, these are a decent size and ably reproduce the look of the original item. It’s helped by those original items not being the most intricately detailed things. We wonder if the concept would do well extended to some other ideas – maybe historical, like a Spartan or Roman helmet, for example.

It’s a fine Star Wars item for the fan, made all the more timely by the huge success of Dsiney’s new series, The Mandalorian, telling the story of Fett’s warrior clan. They’re very attractively packaged, eschewing glitz for elegance, and the mintage of 5,000 is enough to keep them affordable and available for a while. Available from today priced around $220.00 USD. We’ve added this to our comprehensive Thematic Coin Guide to the NZ Mints Star Wars selection.

BOBA FETT

Mysterious bounty hunter and one of the most feared beings in the galaxy, Boba Fett was a clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett, made at Jango’s instruction and raised as his son. After witnessing his ‘fathers’ death at the hands of the Jedi Master Mace Windu, he trained in his footsteps as a bounty hunter.

Taking on commissions for Darth Vader, Fett tracked Hans Solo’s ship, the Millennium Falcon, to Cloud City where Vader captured him. After being interrogated and frozen in carbonite, Solo is turned over to Boba Fett so that Fett can claim the bounty on him from the criminal overlord, Jabba the Hutt.

After an attempted rescue of Solo by the Rebellion, he travels on Jabba’s sail barge to the Great Pit of Carkoon, home of the Sarlacc, where the prisoners are to be executed. When the prisoners mount an escape he attempts to intervene, and ends up in a tussle with Luke Skywalker, but Solo accidentally ignites Fett’s rocket pack, sending the bounty hunter falling into the Sarlacc’s mouth.

Dressed in his trademark Mandalorian armour, Fett has become of the the most loved and iconic of all the characters in the Star Wars universe.