Mint of Gdańsk adds to its ‘Chinese Heroes’, ‘Mankind’s Mistakes’, and ‘Human Tragedies’ ranges with new two-ounce silver coins

It’s been a great week for new issues, and we hope you’ve enjoyed the coverage so far. We’ve concentrated on one producer per day, which we will likely continue through at least some of next week, and today, it’s the turn of the Mint of Gdańsk, who have issued quite a few coins of late, many we haven’t covered so far. The three here are additions to current series, although none are very old.

First out of the gate is our favourite of the three – Black Death (what can I say, I’m a morbid idiot…). We’ve enjoyed this series since its inception in 2022, when they released an exception Chernobyl coin, followed last year with an even better Hiroshima design. The style is consistent, and depicts these events through the eyepiece of one of the masks that would have been worn at the time. The view through the ‘lens’ is enhanced. In the case of the first two, which dealt with radiation, there was UV colour, but here, we have a red resin, no doubt meant to symbolise blood (the death toll was staggering). There is meant to be some UV colour as well, but it isn’t shown in the images we have.

The look represents one of those unique Plague Doctor masks with the large ‘beak’, and we love the texture imparted on the reverse to simulate it. The scene of a plague cart covered in bodies, with a plague doctor in the foreground, hammers home the message. The obverse, which is unique to this coin, depicts four skeletons doing the famed Danse Macabre, each having risen from the ground. An apt analogy, given we’re still finding plague pits full of victims to this day. A fine addition to an exceptional series. The next coin will be Fukushima, which may be the last. We hope not. I said last year that a First World War coin with yellow resin, depicting a Mustard Gas attack on the Western Front, would be super cool.

HUMAN TRAGEDIES 03: BLACK DEATH Gallery

The second coin we’re featuring is the third in the Chinese Heroes series, following Guan Yu in 2020, and Liu Bei in 2022. This is a theme that went through quite a popular phase just a couple of years ago, and still appears on modern coins. It’s easy to see why, as the old Chinese history and legends are interesting, and rich with a culture so strong, even the CCP hasn’t managed to completely eradicated it. Tales, like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, have provided a fertile breeding ground for numismatics.

This one features Bao Zheng, who was born in 999 CE, and died in 1062. During China’s Song Dynasty, he was a politician, famed for his fairness and honesty, changing processes to give more people a voice, and in rooting out corruption. He is admired to this day, often depicted as the Astral God of Civil Arts.

He was usually depicted with a crescent moon on his forehead, and wearing the zhanjiao futou hat of a judge, and that’s the look that the Mint of Gdańsk has indeed chosen for the coin. Lord Bao is shown in full legal attire, but there’s some fantasy thrown in for effect, with a beautifully coloured dragon wrapped around him in the background. The obverse has a similar dragon-themed style to the first two issues, but the design is unique to this one. A nice addition to the series.

CHINESE HEROES 03: BAO ZHENG Gallery

Finally, we have the second in the ‘Mankind’s Mistakes’ series, and this one follows a coin based around the witch trials that took place between 1450 and 1750 in Europe and the USA. The Inquisition was unexpected (“nooooobody expects the Spanish Inquisition…” sorry…), and here we have a view of the charming practices of the Church in converting and/or punishing heretics, including a wheel, fire, a club (a 3D-printed insert), pliers and cages. It’s quite a macabre scene, packing a lot in, and although it’s a little stiffly posed, does a great job of making its point. The excellent photos do a good job showing it off.

The obverse continues the style of the first coin, but has different detailing more appropriate to the subject. We really have to commend this producer for making that extra effort on the obverse faces of their coins. So many just have a basic effigy/emblem, but it’s nice to see one that compliments the reverse face. A good historical coin. Like the other pair of coins here, it comes boxed with a COA.

MANKIND’S MISTAKES 02: THE INQUISITION Gallery

COIN DENOMINATION COMPOSITION DIMENSION FINISH MINTAGE
BLACK DEATH $5 NZD (Niue) 62.2 g of 0.999 silver 45.00 mm Antique 400
BAO ZHENG $5 NZD (Niue) 62.2 g of 0.999 silver 45.00 mm Antique 300
INQUISITION $5 NZD (Niue) 62.2 g of 0.999 silver 45.00 mm Antique 300