Despite the concentration on their very high profile Disney and Star Wars properties, the New Zealand Mint has always found time to have a few history and nature series on the go at the same time. Moving away from an annual release schedule, the last couple of years has seen sets of coins released at much faster rates. There are pluses and minuses to this, but more pluses when the subjects like these don’t experience quick sell-outs and thus give collectors more of a chance to pick the coins up at their leisure.

Kings of the Continents is one such series. On the surface an unambitious range of simple coloured coins, there remains a constant demand for nature coins, and these are certainly attractively produced examples of the genre. Take this fifth coin featuring the Jaguar. That’s one of the best big cat images we’ve seen on a coloured coin, well highlighted by the clean struck background. While not pushing boundaries, it’s certainly a fine coin.

The series looks at the apex predators on continents around the world. We’ve had Africa (Lion), Europe (Wolf), Asia (Cobra), Grizzly (North America), and now the Jaguar (South America). We’re going to assume that Australasia and Antarctica are yet to come. The former has quite a few options, maybe the Saltwater Crocodile, and the latter could be the Leopard Seal, or even the Orca, although the latter ranges worldwide. Perhaps an eighth coin featuring the worlds oceans?

Struck in 1oz of fine silver, issued for Niue and with a mintage of 5,000, the specs are standard enough. The packaging is pretty decent and the $80.00 USD price about expected for the type. The obverse is typical New Zealand Mint and Niue; the Ian Rank Broadley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by inscriptions detailing her name, the date, issuer and denomination. As we stated previously, we’d assume from the quick release schedule that the series may well complete this year, the mint usually running these from five to seven coins at most, and with this being the fifth since February, we’d be surprised to see it run into 2017. Available to pre-order now, shipping begins at the end of August.

The Jaguar is the fifth animal to feature in our “Kings of the Continents” coin collection, which portrays some of the most dominant and revered animals on each continent.

This stunning 1 oz coin shows a prowling Jaguar crawling in the dense vegetation of a rain forest. The coin is encased in an elegant themed box which slides open to reveal the coin nestled in a black velvet interior. The uniquely numbered Certificate of Authenticity sits within the packaging.

The Jaguar (Panthera onca), is the largest cat in the Americas and the third largest cat in the world, reaching up to 2.15m (7 feet) in length and up to 90 kg (200 pounds) in weight. Native to the Americas, these stunning, now-endangered animals once roamed a vast area from Argentina to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Today, Jaguars are only found in very few locations in South and Central America.

The Jaguar has a compact body, a broad head and powerful jaws. Its coat is normally yellow and tan, but can vary from reddish brown to black, with black spots and rosettes covering its coat. A carnivore, the Jaguar eats anything it can catch and with its extremely strong jaws and sharp teeth, it usually kills its prey with one crushing bite to the skull.

Excellent at climbing and crawling, the Jaguar hunts mostly on the ground, but sometimes it climbs a tree to pounce on its prey from above. Unlike most other big cats, the Jaguar loves the water and often swims and hunts for fish in rivers and ponds.