The second in a series called ‘The Dragonology’, this coin follows the earlier Flaming Wyvern release, itself a beautiful coin. The Starburst Amphithere is a European creation, said to symbolise wisdom and strength, and a common object in heraldic circles. Whatever its origins, it’s a dragon, and dragons are cool – and popular.

Flaming Wyvern set the style for this series, with the dragon shown entwined a beautiful woman, the latter exquisitely highlighted in colour. The same is true here, with the dragon beautifully curved to fill the coin, and the Nymph floating in front of it. A small part of the background is coloured to represent its starburst wing. A really nice looking coin.

The obverse is a common design to the series, and one of the most impressive out there, featuring a reptilian eye. There is a single change, however. The eyeball itself is coloured to match the woman on the reverse face. On the Wyvern coin it was red, here it’s blue, which is a neat tweak hinting at the attention to detail imparted in it.

With all these eyeballs today, I’m beginning to think the universe is mocking me, but here we are again. George Orwell’s brilliant dystopian novel, 1984, has provided some inspiration for this Big Brother coin. The whole theme of surveillance has come to the forefront over the last couple of decades, as it’s obvious we are constantly tracked and watched by everything from governments to corporations in the name of protection and profit. I suspect Orwell would have been especially horrified to see just how prescient he was.

The coin concept is brilliant, frankly. The reverse face carries a struck representation of a human eye, meant to symbolise a belief in what you see for yourself. The obverse depicts a camera lens, the implication clear, given how much media is used to manipulate us today. Running through the coin centre is a round hole, simultaneously doing service as a pupil, and as a lens aperture. The fight between what we see with our own eyes, and what is fed to us, is very real, and very timely. We can see this coin resonating with many, especially admirers of Orwell’s chilling novel.

Lucifer Morningstar is also the second coin in a series, and follows a release featuring Chronos. The theme here is duality in the mythological world, making the point that beings can have more than one facet to their nature. Lucifer is a classic example. In Christian mythology, he went from Gods favourite to banishment to hell, a staggering fall from good to evil.

The coin design shows that duality with good to one side and evil to the other, with a sharp change between them. To the left we have that classic image of Lucifer as the Devil, and to the right, in equally classical angelic form. He holds a Morningstar, which has been highlighted with gilding. The common obverse returns, and is a fine design in its own right, also having that central vertical split between light and dark. Yet another excellent release.