MDM celebrate the celebration with a Mexican Wave inspired proof silver coin
The biggest sporting extravaganza on the planet and one loved with a passion by more people in more countries than any other tournament, the FIFA World Cup arrives in Russia next June for what will be the most watched event of the year. Like the last World Cup in Brazil in 2014, lots of countries will be releasing precious metal commemorative coins in celebration. We’re starting our look at them with what may well be the best of them all.
The games are known for the passion of the fans and it’s great to see that aspect of the tournament brought to life instead of just another look at the ball and/or the trophy. A huge 90 x 45 mm rectangle, the reverse face is packed with a vista of fans doing the Mexican Wave, also called the La ola in some countries, like Germany and Italy. The wave is an example of metachronal rhythm and occurs in a packed stadium when successive groups of spectators briefly stand, yell, and raise their arms. Immediately upon stretching to full height, the spectator returns to the usual seated position. Done correctly, the wave seems to move around the stadium.
The lower half of a footballer dribbling a ball sits in the foreground. It’s a beautiful piece and perfectly captures the passion and exuberance of the games. Issued for the Solomon Islands, the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II is in attendance on the obverse, along with inscriptions detailing the denomination and issuer. To the right of that is a very cool looking stylistic mixed pattern of football and Russia related elements. It’s great to see some effort employed on this face.
Three ounces in weight, the coins biggest selling point is the wave shape, having some similarities with the beautiful Chopin coin put out by the Mint of Poland a couple of years ago. Packaging looks decent, if uninspiring, and includes a certificate of authenticity that denotes which of the 2,018 mintage you have. We’re still waiting on release date and pricing information, but unless this is hugely expensive, we’re going to say this is about as cool a coin as you’re likely to see for the 2018 World Cup, which will undoubtedly be won by England….. 😉
2018 FIFA WORLD CUP
The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be the 21st FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men’s national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is scheduled to take place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights on 2 December 2010. This will be the first World Cup held in Europe since 2006; all but one of the stadium venues are in European Russia, west of the Ural Mountains to keep travel time manageable.
The final tournament will involve 32 national teams, which include 31 teams determined through qualifying competitions and the automatically qualified host team. Of the 32 teams, 20 will be making back-to-back appearances following the last edition of the tournament in 2014, including defending champions Germany, while Iceland and Panama will both be making their first appearances at a FIFA World Cup. A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities. The final will take place on 15 July in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium.
The winners of the World Cup will qualify for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup. (Source: Wikipedia)
SPECIFICATION
NAME | 2018 LAOLA WAVE |
DENOMINATION | $10 Solomon Islands |
COMPOSITION | 0.999 silver |
WEIGHT | 93.3 grams |
DIMENSIONS | 45.00 x 90.00 mm |
FINISH | Brilliant uncirculated |
MODIFICATIONS | Wave profile |
MINTAGE | 2,018 |
BOX / COA | Yes / Yes |
I first encountered this wave form for a coin in 2001. The French Mint came out with the Last Franc wave shaped round coin KM#1290.