Nobody would argue that 2023 hasn’t been a terrific year for new producer T&S Coins. That it’s also their first year is something particularly noteworthy, although the pair behind the company, whose initials gave the company its name, are industry veterans. Including the two we’re looking at here, T&S have issued nine coins through 2023, with a distinct and coherent style across the range, and an exceptional level of quality. Nothing has changed for these two, with that consistent style, right down to the companies attractive common obverse design, and the use of gilded highlights over an antique finish.

The first of the pair is Sparta. A popular theme, the designer, Yuriy Tikhonovskiy, has, I believe, done a superb Spartan coin before, This is only the second issue from T&S to employ colour, and it’s used sympathetically, not jockeying for dominance over the gilding, and completely on topic. The design, featuring a ‘V’ formation of warriors, with the main subject at its point, is perhaps a nod to the wall of warriors that helped save Greece from the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae. The architecture in the background could be symbolic of that, as Sparta itself was primarily an agrarian society. Overall, a fine addition to the genre.

The second is one from Greek mythology, but with echoes of a Renaissance interpretation of it, as employed by some of the great master painters of that period. Both the woman, and Cupid, are beautifully realised, exhibiting clear emotion in their pose, and facial expressions. Anatomy is outstanding, the fabric layering spot-on, and the floral border exquisite. It’s a terrific, classical composition. Like Sparta, it will come boxed with a C.O.A., and is available to order now, with shipping in early Q1/2024.