Germania Beast’s returns with the giant wolf from Norse mythology, Fenrir, in the latest coin spanning design

Back after a very successful debut last year, Germania Beasts continues with another of the iconic creatures populating the old Northern European myths and legends. It was the dragon Fafnir, that became an integral part of the composer, Wagner’s work, that featured on the 2021 coin, and for 2022, it’s the wolf, Fenrir. The wolf was a powerful figure in Norse mythology, sired by Loki, and prophesised to kill the god, Odin during Ragnarök. Because of this, he was bound, even biting off the hand of the god Tyr during the act.

On the coin, Fenrir is depicted chained and snarling. It’s a classic depiction, and a nice touch is the Nordic rune pattern on Fenrirs collar. As with Fafnir, the top half of Fenrir’s body is depicted on the reverse face, and the bottom half on the obverse. They’re designed in a way that lets the artwork flow from one to the other, forming a bigger, coherent image. It’s tricky to pull off on round coins, but they seem to have managed it very well, if not as perfectly as Fafnir, whose slim body at the cross-over point made it easier to pull off.

The base version is the one-ounce silver bullion round, which, despite its status, comes with a certificate of authenticity. It has a textured background and shiny relief, so similar to a reverse-proof finish, like bullion coins issued by the Perth Mint, for example. Both faces have minimal inscriptions, something we love here, and they’re all well-placed for minimum intrusion. This release ticks all the right boxes for us, with a well-balanced mintage (25,000), great design on both faces, and a fine quality of strike. We recommend getting hold of one of the dual-coin capsules and putting a pair of these in it. Available now.

ULTRA-HIGH DOUBLE RELIEF EDITION

Introduced with the debut release last year, the UHDR Edition leverages Germania Mint’s considerable expertise with alternative finishes. Before moving away from it and producing their own coins, Kurowski Metals were one of the go-to companies for higher-end enhancements, and the quality is impeccable. For 2021s Fafnir Geminus coin, the dragon itself was embellished with a chameleonic colour application, changing hue as you rotated the coin in hand. Very pretty.

For 2022, Germania Mint has gone with applying that colour style to the background. That’s probably the right way to go, given a wolf is hardly known for extravagant colour, whereas a dragon has no problem pulling off that look. It does contrast well with the antique finish, and there’s a UV (glow-in-the-dark) element to the finish. This one is two ounces in weight, and although there’s a wider diameter, much of that extra has gone to ramping up the high-relief to impressive levels. A satisfying range-topper, beautifully packaged in a themed acrylic frame.