Here’s a collation of some of the new bullion coin releases from around the world (Week 42, 2024)
We’ve been having some success with our weekly round-up of new coin releases on Fridays, and we used to do similar things last year with bullion coins, so I’ve decided to continue with similar weekly bullion collections on Wednesdays, moving forward. This should allow me to cover more in a less in-depth way, which is fine, as many don’t really justify that, and many have associated Bullion Profiles anyway.
I could have filled this out with a dozen issues, as we’re well behind on our bullion coin coverage, and the number of new issues is relentless, but I’ve capped this at four, which have appeared very recently. In some weeks, when it’s quiet, we’ll occasionally drop back and add some of those we missed, so expect 4–6 coins every week if the market allows that.
A decent selection to kick it all off, although none are original, just adding to existing series. The highlight, in our opinion at least, is the long-awaited return of Scottsdale Mints ‘Egyptian Relic Series’, with this fine Akhenaten design, complete with a smaller mintage. Enjoy.
We’d almost given up hoping there would be new issues in one of our favourite bullion ranges, but fortunately, Scottsdale Mint have issued the latest in their Egyptian Relic Series coins, which we’ve always referred to here as ‘Chiselled Edge Ancients’. Why do we call them that? They have a unique edge finish that makes them look as if they’ve been hacked out of a piece of stone and then carved.
The range debuted back in 2016 with Tutankhamun, and ironically, the latest, a 2023 issue, features his father, the heretic Pharaoh, Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten, and tried to reroute the Egyptian religion to a principally monotheistic one, likely to break the back of the priesthood, which was gaining much power, and a threat to the Pharoah’s.
This series has always been a bit random in its choice of formats, and that continues here, but in a good way. The core 5oz coin returns, but they’ve dumped the 1oz that we saw with the 2022 Kek issue, for the other core format, the 2oz. We’re especially pleased to see that, as the 1oz had none of the style of the others, looking more like a bog-standard bullion coin.
Mintages are on the smaller end of the range, giving added impetus for collectors to pick up one of these very cool bullion coins. Check out our full Bullion Profile to this terrific series.
DENOMINATION | COMPOSITION | DIMENSIONS | FINISH | MINTAGE |
1,000 Francs CFA (Chad) | 62.2 g of 0.999 silver | 41.0 mm | Antique | 2,500 |
3,000 Francs CFA (Chad) | 155.5 g of 0.999 silver | 41.0 mm | Antique | 2,000 |
Another series we thought had died off, was the New Zealand Mint’s Star Wars bullion range. Debuting in 2017, it exploded into several sub-ranges, and quite a few releases over the next few years. It’s been quieter of late, with only The Mandalorian subset getting any real attention, and even then, in silver only. Earlier releases also came in gold.
This new one is exclusively distributed by MTB-PAMP, and is the fourth Grogu design (sixth overall) in The Mandalorian series. Baby Yoda quickly became the smash hit character in this very popular TV show, and the scene depicted is of Grogu practising his Force skills while under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker. Fans will recognise it immediately.
Again, this is one-ounce silver only, and is available to buy at all the usual places. Again, we have a full Bullion Profile of the range that summarises all the issues to date.
DENOMINATION | COMPOSITION | DIAMETER | FINISH | MINTAGE |
$2 NZD (Niue) | 31.1 g of 0.999 silver | 39.0 mm | B/Unc. | 15,000 |
The second new bullion issue from MTB-PAMP is one they produce themselves, and continues a walk through the many characters in the DC Comics pantheon. It’s all a little confusing, so for clarification, this is a different series to the DC Comics bullion range from the New Zealand Mint that is issued for Niue. The range here, is issued for Samoa.
The Joker, an incredibly iconic character in Batman’s ‘Rogue’s gallery’, is the seventh in this Samoan range to date, and the first to feature a villain, rather than a member of The Justice League. It’s a terrific incarnation, with the Gotham skyline in the background, and a comic-book style depiction, running Green Lantern close as our favourite to date.
The choice of formats is a little more extensive than the Niue range. There’s the base silver bullion coin, of course, and that’s also available with colour in a TEP slab. In addition, there’s a gold bullion coin that comes boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity (150 mintage), and a similarly packaged silver proof (250 mintage).
DENOMINATION | COMPOSITION | DIMENSIONS | FINISH | MINTAGE |
$5 (Samoa) | 31.1 g of 0.9999 silver | 39.0 mm | B/Unc. | 15,000 |
$5 (Samoa) | 31.1 g of 0.9999 silver | 39.0 mm | Colour | 2,500 |
Slowly catching up with the proof range, The Royal Mint has just issued the latest in its ‘Six Decades of 007’ bullion coins, this time featuring the films of the 1980s. We won’t go into details of the series here, as you can read all about that in our look at the proof coins, so we’ll concentrate on the bullion.
The same pair of offerings returns, both tipping the scales at an ounce. There’s a 0.999 silver coin with a 100k mintage, and a 0.9999 gold variant capped at 5k. The design follows the proof versions closely, with the addition of a micro-engraved inscription running around the border, and a guilloche pattern in the background field of the obverse. Both are aids to anti-counterfeiting, making this quite the secure offering. You can see other designs in our Thematic Guide to 007.
DENOMINATION | COMPOSITION | DIMENSIONS | FINISH | MINTAGE |
£2 UKP (United Kingdom) | 31.21 g of 0.999 silver | 38.61 mm | B/Unc. | 100,000 |
£100 UKP (United Kingdom) | 31.21 g of 0.9999 gold | 32.69 mm | B/Unc. | 5,000 |
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