Launching in April 2023, Femina Bellator is a series highlighting women warrior groups through history, in both myth and reality, although mainly the former. That launch coin featured the Valkyrie, Norse warriors of legend, and this second coin heads south for the Amazon’s, a race of warriors present in a wider range of cultures, following their Greek originators as they conquered.

Said to be the equal of any man, the Amazons were a closed matriarchy, led by a Queen from Themiscyra, believed to be in the north of modern-day Turkiye. They were first written about in one of the earliest, and most famous books in antiquity – Homer’s ‘The Iliad’, the story of the Trojan War. The depiction on this coin is another stunning one, easily matching the beautiful original. A portrait of an Amazon, with a coloured face, dominates, but the most real estate is set aside for an Amazon warrior fighting from horseback.

In her earring sits, appropriately enough, an orb of a mineral called Amazonite, named after the South American river, but actually mined since antiquity in Gebel Migif, in Egypt. It’s a variety of feldspar, a core mineral in granite. That light green colour extends to the background field of the obverse, in the middle of which sits the flower of the wild rose hip, said to symbolise strength and courage. Each obverse is custom themed to the subject – a great touch, It’s another beautiful piece of numismatic art.

After being blown away by a superlative Roman Empire coin back in April, which was the launch coin in their ‘Legacy of the Greatest Empires’ series, we’ve eagerly awaited the second issue. As we suspected, it’s the Mongol Empire this time, rulers of the largest continuous land empire in history, spanning from the east coast of Asia, to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, At its peak, in the early 14th century, it covered an area of some 24 million square kilometres, helped by the Central Asian steppes enjoying the mildest, wettest conditions for over a thousand years.

Led by Genghis Khan, Mongol forces, composed mainly of lightly armoured cavalry, spread out, subjugating city states, and small empires alike. It wasn’t all about war, however, and Genghis Khan introduced a new codified set of laws, forbade the trade in women, encouraged and standardised reading, introduced religious freedom, and encouraged trade. The empire continued for centuries after his death in 1227, growing to a huge size under the almost as famous Kublai Khan, by the end of the 13th century. It was in Europe, the Middle East, and Japan that they met their match, but the empire fell primarily to infighting amongst the many factions.

The coin depicts Genghis Khan, on horseback, clad in his armour, seemingly gazing out as his mounted hordes go on a rampage. Like the Roman Empire coin, there is a wide range of elements packed into this face, including a coloured map of the empire, a gilded banner, and an inscribed coat-of-arms. Despite how busy it is, the elements all flow into each other to form a coherent whole. The common obverse returns, itself full of detail. Another fine release in what is one of our favourite series being released today.

The veteran series of the three we’re looking at here, having debuted in 2020 with Amun-Ra, ‘Divine Faces of the Sun takes us on a journey through the cultural beliefs of a widely disparate group of civilisations, all having something in common. That commonality, one that is quite pervasive, in fact, is a deity strongly associated with our Sun, and the light and heat that emanate from it.

This fifth entrant, Dazhbog, heads to Eastern Europe, and dives into Slavic mythology, a subject picking up a bit more interest of late. Worshipped as the bringer of warmth and light, very important in a region noted for cold winters, he was said to control the cycle of day and night. He is likely a character based on earlier Greek and Egyptian gods. On the coin, he is depicted as an old, bearded man, with a falcon on his arm, said to symbolise the power of the sun.

He carries a staff, partially gilded, atop which is an amber domed insert. Producers have become considerably more adept and incorporating these divisive additions into the core design, and it works especially well here, never looking out of place. The obverse, by contrast, is a simple affair, featuring the Public Seal of Niue, although there is a small, patterned border. A nice-looking coin, in a great series, including a gorgeous Amaterasu issue.