We cover quite a bit of the New Zealand Mint’s copious output here, with their many popular culture franchises drawing in new collectors from the massive movie memorabilia market, but go back eight years, and their line-up was quite different. There were nature, literature, and history coins galore, but apart from the occasional series, like the recent ‘Dinosaurs’, the mint has almost completely moved into the media market.

Fortunately, there are new issues, and the latest  brings the mints  new-found dalliance with shaped coins to the nature genre. Called ‘Fierce Nature’, this series is clearly going to be themed around apex predators, and what better way to start than the fabled King of the Beasts, the Lion. Shaped, and struck in high-relief, the coin depicts a roaring male lion, and there’s plenty of detail, and a good-looking antique-finish.

Two ounces of 0.999 silver, and up to 40 mm in size, the coin has a mintage of 2,000 units, and comes presented in an extremely neat windowed box, something this producer has always done very well. A nice coin, with shades of AllCollect’s far more expensive Mauquoy ‘Big Five’ issues. Available now, it has a retail price of $199.00 USD.

LINKS: NZ Mint eStore