The coloured cast bar tsunami continues with the completion of 7 Deadly Sins, an owl, a bull, Chicago, and a surprise London feline

There seems to be quite a bit of interest in the coloured cast-bar market at the moment, kicked off by Germania Mint’s program, one we also published a Bullion Profile for, so here we have the latest little selection for your perusal. Three of the five are straight up members of that GM range, although the fourth, also from Germania Mint, is a unique, heart-shaped companion piece to the ANA Chicago show bar.

Of most surprise is a new bar, the first of three, from PiK Coins tipping the scales at 100 grams, instead of the more common 62.2 grams. It has a cat on it, so despite cast bars not strictly being our thing, we had to cover it. Anyway, the relevant bars have been added to our big profile, and you can enjoy the rest here.

2024 BRITISH SHORTHAIR CAT (PiK Coins)

A surprise new release from PiK Coins is our first focus, and it’s the only one here either not a part of the Germania Mint’s program, or produced by them. At 100 grams, it weighs in at around 3.2 Troy ounces, and is the first in a series of three bars called ‘Cats in the City’. The first one is a British Shorthair in London, and carries a nice piece of art, with the cat strolling down the middle of a cobbled road.

There’s a neat box that will hold all three bars, each with a certificate of authenticity. A nice idea for bar art, cat lovers will like it, we’re sure, and it makes a pleasant detour from mythology. They have a mintage of 999 pieces per design.

2024 MYTHICAL CREATURES: ATHENA’S OWL (Sterling Silver Surfers)

Following a beautiful Medusa design, Sterling Silver Surfers have added a depiction of the famous Athenian Owl to the second of the three bars in this range. Another terrific piece of art, this is shaping up to be quite an attractive little set.

2024 SEVEN DEADLY SINS: LUST (Asturmint)

Coming out in quite rapid succession, Asturmint have already wrapped up their Seven Deadly Sins series of bars. Rounding it out is Lust, and as you can imagine, they’ve gone all out with the personification this time. Again, we only have line-art, and we don’t get samples like we sometimes do from Germania Mint, so I’ve no idea what the finished article looks like, but Asturmint rarely disappoint. The Asturmint bull glyph is on the back.

2024 ANA SHOW (Germania Mint)

One of the first bars in this new program that Germania Mint released, was a special issue for the World Money Fair in Berlin back in late January. They’ve done the same again for the upcoming American Numismatic Association (ANA) show in Chicago. A riot of colour, it will no doubt sell well at the show, given how popular this bar program has become. Just 999 will be cast. For the completists out there, Germania also did a bar for the BICE in Beijing, but that one was only available in either 88.8 grams, or 88.8 ounces, in a nod to Chinese superstition.

2024 ANA SHOW HEART (Germania Mint)

This one isn’t part of that popular two-ounce cast bar program, but is being released as a companion piece to one that is. There’s no bull on this five-ounce, heart-shaped piece, as it’s been replaced by a very colourful Chicago skyline. It also has more premium packaging than the paperboard boxes of the smaller range, consisting of a generic wooden box, inside a colourfully themed sleeve. The number of these being produced is halved, to 500 units.