Mint21 Week: Ancient Egyptian god of the sun and the air exudes power on new high relief coin

The penultimate coin in Mint 21’s World Money Fair line-up, Amun-Ra has chosen a perennial favourite of the modern coin world for its subject – Ancient Egypt. We all know that gods are hardly a rare subject on coins these days, but there’s always room for a new take on an old favourite.

The Sun-God Amun -Ra was considered one of the most important deities in the Ancient Egyptian pantheon. While much older, his importance grew around the beginning of the New Kingdom (1570-1069 B.C.E.) in Thebes and was known as ‘Lord of All’, although is more specifically associated with the sun and the air. He is usually shown as a bearded man, originally with a double-plumed headdress, but later as a ram-headed man, meant to symbolise fertility. You have to admire the inventiveness of this civilisation with regard to its beliefs.

Mint 21 have chosen to depict Amun-Ra in classic form, with the horns of the ram and wearing an Egyptian headdress. He is holding an ankh, the fabled cross with a loop. The background is filled with hieroglyphic-style imagery, the top section of which is beautifully gilded. Having recently had one of Scottsdale’s Egyptian-themed gold bullion coins in hand, I can attest to how well the two things complement each other. Sitting at the top of the reverse face is an inset piece of amber, half-spherical in form. The obverse, by comparison, is a simple Niue affair, although it carries on with the antique finish.

A three-ounce coin of 55 mm diameter means there’s plenty of metal available to squeeze out some impressive levels of high relief. Like all of this new tranche of Mint 21’s releases, this is a beautiful strike. Meticulous levels of detail and a superb design, this will obviously appeal to collectors of the genre looking for something a little different to the Mint of Poland’s own style. Boxed with a C.O.A., it has a mintage of 500 pieces and will ship from June.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

Previously, the Egyptians worshipped two different divinities: Amun and Ra. As a matter of fact, Amun-Ra became one god about 2040 B.C. Amun Ra possessed the traits of both gods, their influence, power, and greatness.

On the coin, Amun Ra is depicted in the form of a man with a ram’s head like ancient people used to depict him. He also has signs of the god Ra – the eagle with a solar disk on his head. Like Amun, Amun-Ra holds a cross with a loop that is a symbol of life and immortality.

SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION $5 NZD (Niue)
COMPOSITION 0.999 silver
WEIGHT 93.3 grams
DIMENSIONS 55.0 mm
FINISH Antique
MODIFICATIONS High-relief, gilding, amber insert
MINTAGE 500
BOX / C.O.A. Yes / Yes