Top World Coins debuts its first launches of 2025, with alien artists, psycho clowns, and a miner who overdid the diet

Today sees the launch of three new releases from Top World Coins, two of which mark the debuts of new series, with the last being the second issue in the Memento Mori range, the first of which was issued last year. In a nice change from the race to the expensive top end, we’ve seen, of late, these are all one-ounce coins that have debuted at under €100. Great to see, especially as the spot price of precious metals seems to be on a upward trend.

The first new series has a lot of potential, and is titled ‘Urban Legends’. As a species, we love our stories, and none more so than the classic ‘things that go bump in the night’ trope. There’s a rich cultural history all around the world for creatures, and twisted forces, that inhabit our towns and cities, so this is clearly a series that could run and run.

The first is a character that, surprisingly, freaks out more people than would admit it – the evil clown. The obvious example is Pennywise, the character from Stephen King’s ‘It’, that’s had new life breathed into it by a couple of surprisingly good films. That inspiration is quite clear with the coloured artwork on this coin, which is simple, but vibrant, and displaying malice. You can see why people don’t like clowns in this. The obverse carries a mix of various urban legends in silhouette form, surrounding a modern city. A good debut, it comes boxed with a COA.

URBAN LEGENDS: 2025 EVIL CLOWN

The second coin also signifies the debut of a whole new series, this time called ‘Strangers Among Us’. This series looks like it could be quite a bit of fun if the first issue is a reliable indicator. The idea that many of the greatest minds in history were actual aliens isn’t new, which is quite insulting to our own creativity and ingenuity, when you think about it, but we do love a good conspiracy theory, don’t we!

The first subject is the legendary artist, Vincent van Gogh. Here, he is depicted as a large black-eyed alien, done in the style of his actual self-portraits, of which he did many, in front of a vista that apes his ‘Starry Night’ style. It’s an unusual choice of subject, and we like the way they’ve realised it. Einstein next?

The obverse depicts a classic flying saucer hovering over a pastoral scene in the foreground, with a big city in the background. Is the saucer dropping off Vincent, or picking him up? The coin comes boxed with a COA.

STRANGERS AMONG US: 2025 VINCENT VAN GOGH

The final coin of the trio is one that adds to an existing series, that being Memento Mori, which loosely translates in Latin to ‘Remember to die’. Cleverly, TWC have interpreted this by depicting skeletons going about their day as if they were still alive – hence forgetting to die. We like the way they’ve brought this idea to fruition.

The first coin (shown lower down), depicted a biker, and this time, it’s a miner, dressed in 19th century garb, and checking the time on his pocket watch. There’s some subtle colouring, done as if the head lamp was a light source. The high relief is impressive for a one-ounce coin, although that does mean the diameter drops from 40 mm, to 32 mm. We’re fine with that, given the deeper perspective that relief allows. The obverse, common to the series, features a stylised Death’s-Head Hawkmoth, and the whole thing is antique finished.

A cool design, especially for sub-€100, it comes boxed with a COA.

MEMENTO MORI: 2025 MINER MEMENTO

COIN DENOMINATION COMPOSITION DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE
2025 EVIL CLOWN 1,000 Francs CFA (Cameroon) 31.1 g of 0.999 silver 40.0 mm Proof, Colour 1,000
2025 VAN GOGH 1,000 Francs CFA (Cameroon) 31.1 g of 0.999 silver 40.0 mm Proof, Colour 1,000
2025 MINER 5 Cedis (Ghana) 31.1 g of 0.9999 gold 32.0 mm Antique, Colour 999