Coins featuring embedded meteorite fragments have been hitting the market since the last decade and many have seen some quite healthy levels of appreciation on the secondary market. Back in 2014 the Mint of Poland launched the first in their own series of coins, this time combining the usual meteorite fragment with an ultra-high relief strike. The resulting Canyon Diable design was a fine one that proved popular. For 2015 the mint followed up that release with a coin depicting Wolfe Creek, a huge 50,000 tonne meteorite that hit Western Australia around 300,000 years ago.
As with most popular coin styles, other mints release their own coins to compete and the first to jump into the ring is German coin producer MCI-Mint with their debut meteorite piece. The style is very similar to the Mint of Poland (MoP) effort, but MCI have added a couple of nice touches to differentiate its coin. Coming off the back of the fragment is a coloured flaming tail, similar to those generated by meteorites entering the atmosphere. It adds a nice piece of dynamism to the design. The rear of the coin, while still antique-finished, has had the background around the Queens effigy gilded with red gold. It’s unusual, and in our opinion, works well.
Limited to only 500 pieces, less even than the relatively tiny mintages of the Canyon Diablo and Wolfe Creek coins from the Mint of Poland, the coin comes with a serialised certificate and in a box. Shipping in early August for around €150-200, this will make a nice addition to a collection containing the two MoP coins even if they’re not from the same series. Quality will likely be very high given it’s from MCI, and the price is pretty decent for a 500 mintage coin of this type. Available to order now.
UPDATE: Apologies but a small correction. The mintage is 576 pieces, not 500.
MINTS DESCRIPTION
IRON FROM THE SKY: THE CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE
The spanish conquistadores sent by their governor to a dry and grassy plain in what is today Northern Argentina could not believe that they discovered in the year 1576 a natural wonder when they found some really big rocks of pure iron. They thought that it comes from an iron mine, but the natives knew better and told them, that the iron rocks of Campo del Cielo – this means Field of Heaven in english – were stones once falling from the sky. For almost 300 years nobody believes them. But today we know that they were right. 26 impact craters were found at Campo del Cielo and several iron pieces up to 37 tons. This is what was left of a visitor from the asteroid belt with a weight of approximately 80 tons who fell to earth 5,000 years ago – around the time when the Egyptians began to build pyramids. The Campo del Cielo Meteorite is the biggest one ever discovered on earth. Iron meteorites only rarely hit our planet, but they are easier to identify and more durable than stone meteorites. The iron from the sky was used in many cultures, long before mankind was capable to use terrestrial iron ore, for manufacturing weapons, tools and ornaments.
The coin is issued by Niue and shows an impact crater. The real piece of the Campo del Cielo meteorite fixed in the middle of the crater pulls a fiery tail behind it like it did when crossing the atmosphere. The other side of the coin, showing the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, shows a rugged surface and is gilded, but in a fashion representing the corroded surface of the meteorite after it laid for millennia on earth. This is the story of the meteorite – the flight, the impact, the waiting on earth for discovery. The mintage is only 500 pieces and the coin consists of one ounce of fine silver with an antique finish surface. If you want to have a visitor from space at home this is the coin for you!
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