Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born in New York City in 1899, where he joined the Five Points Gang at an early age, working as a bouncer in brothels, but it wasn’t long before he headed off to Chicago with a promotion. Becoming the bodyguard to Johnny Torrio, head of a bootlegging syndicate, he was in the perfect position to take over when Torrio retired after a close assassination attempt. Capone rose to the challenge, expanding the business, and becoming a celebrity in the process, mixing with the politicians and musicians of the time, coming to be seen as a modern-day Robin Hood. Whereas Robin Hood only had to deal with the Sheriff of Nottingham, Al came up with the meanest, nastiest, most powerful opponent of all time – the taxman… Convicted on five counts of tax evasion in 1931, he served eight years, but was already suffering from neurosyphilis on release, and became increasingly debilitated, dying in early 1947.

The coin does a great job of showing the reality of Prohibition-era gangsters, rather than the idealised, roguish image that Hollywood has imparted on them. Capone was brutal, not a Robin Hood style figure, but responsible for a wave of crime, including multiple killings, such as the infamous St. Valentine’s Day murders. Here, he is depicted bringing his own personal brand of justice to his rivals, raiding a club, with a club.

Some gilded highlights and colouring are a T&S speciality, and that’s also true of this coin, with a gilded bat, and plenty of blood splatter, so it’s fairly obvious what the coin is about. That great looking 2025 obverse T&S have, returns again, and the coin is boxed with a certificate of authenticity.

In Old Norse, Valkyrja means “chooser of the slain” and they’re core figures in Norse mythology, entwined as it is with battle. They are female figures who chose the warriors that will live in battle and those that will fall. Of those that die, the Valkyrie take half to Valhalla, the afterlife hall of the slain that is ruled over by the god Odin. The other half go to Fólkvangr, the field of the afterlife ruled over by the goddess Freyja. They remain a symbol of female strength in modern popular culture.

This coin has more extensive gilding than usual, with the armour on both the horse, and the warrior, getting some love. Colour is restricted to the Valkyrie’s red hair, leather skirt, and the expansive wings, leaving the antique finish to complete the look. It’s a combination that has proven incredibly popular in modern coins over the last decade or so, and it’s easy to see why.

The design is more of a mix of cultures, rather than one strictly Norse in style, combining elements of Christianity, and Central European architecture, perhaps a nod to the wide area that the Viking peoples ranged in their time, often on conquest. It shows a Valkyrie wandering a battlefield, choosing those to take to the afterlife, and exhibits some superb detailing. The wings being shaped to follow the arcing rim of the coin is a nice touch. Again, that excellent obverse sees employment, one that has been used on almost all their 2025 releases. Perhaps we will see another tweaked variant for use through 2026.