Korea’s Buddhist heritage is beautifully reproduced with Coins Today’s latest half-kilo silver bullion bar

Commissioned by pious people, votive steles in Korea were erected in courtyards and public spaces and were essentially stone tablets replete with carved scenes of Buddhist life and myth. A particularly fine example sits in Cheongju National Museum in Korea, one covered in 20 seated Buddha’s on one side, and the other in what is called an Amitabha Triad, based around the principal Buddha in Pure Land Buddhism, one known for his good deeds in previous lives, and whose name means “The Buddha of Immeasurable Light and Life” (MORE}.

Coins Today have done a sterling job this year, using elements of Korean, and other cultures, in a striking range of bullion products, like ‘Achilles Shield‘, ‘Michael’s Shield‘, and ‘Doggaebi‘, but we’re particularly taken with this latest bullion product, built around that 43 cm high Buddhist Stele outlined above.

It’s a terrific reproduction, done in half a kilogram of 0.999 silver, struck to a high relief, and then antique-finished. The artwork has been tidied up, the original having picked up some physical damage over its thirteen centuries of life (image courtesy of the National Museum of Korea), but they’ve done a superb job in imbuing the bar with an aged patina, complete with replicated stone cracks, and plenty of texture.

An extremely original piece, there’s little not to like about this one, and it opens up the whole ancient world to similar treatment. Steles in particular, date back millennia, and there are some extraordinary examples from way back when the first civilisations of the Tigris and the Euphrates were still young. There’s huge potential for some original silver bullion products, and we hope Coins Today continue with it. Nobody said that bullion bars have to be boring, and this release certainly isn’t that. Available to order shortly.

UPDATE: MINTAGE CONFIRMED AT JUST 673 PIECES

SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION N/A
COMPOSITION 0.999 silver
WEIGHT 500.0 grams
DIMENSIONS 58.9 x 87.0 mm
FINISH Antique
MODIFICATIONS High-relief
MINTAGE 673
BOX / C.O.A. Yes / Yes