American mega dealer, APMEX, has launched the third in its excellent bullion coin series, ‘Icons of Innovation’. As with the previous Galileo Gallilei, and Leonardo da Vinci coins, this one is designed by regarded coin and stamp artist, Joel Iskowitz, who clearly knows his stuff based on this series alone. The premise of this series is simple enough. Each release showcases an intellectual giant, and features a rendering of the person in front of a background filled with their works.

This latest release highlights the genius of Sir Isaac Newton, the 17th century physicist, mathematician, and astronomer, known for having a Granny Smith land on his head. His 1687 scientific work, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), formulate the laws of motion and gravitation we still reference today. He even spent the last decades of his life as Master of the Royal Mint.

The coin is superb, especially so for bullion. Newton is well realised, with the kind of hair that would make Brian May jealous, and the rest is filled with nods to his lifes work. There’s a prism splitting light, planetary bodies, a coin (the 1718 Gold Quarter Guinea), and, of course, an apple. It’s packed to the rim with relevant touches. Really first class work. The beautiful obverse, with the female personification holding a shield of the Niue national emblem on it, returns.

No changes to the formats from previous issues. The silver bullion coin has a 10,000 mintage, and there’s also a proof version capped at just 100 pieces, although carrying a hefty $250 USD price tag. A gold bullion coin is also limited to 100 pieces, and comes in similar packaging to the silver proof. Available from today, direct from APMEX, this is an outstanding release, in our view.