Mint21 Week: The Three Graces are reinvented with a contemporary twist for this exquisite silver coin
Continuing our week long look at Mint 21’s new coins for early 2020 brings us from the murky bottom of the sea to a representation of beauty and elegance. While Powercoin have taken Antonio Canova’s beautiful ‘The Three Graces’ sculpture and reproduced it in miniature on an impressive CIT-produced issue, Mint 21 have chosen to reimagine it with a modern twist, and they’ve done so in fine style.
Struck in two ounces of fine silver, this is a hugely elegant coin and a nice break from the need to incorporate gimmickry to enhance appeal. Apart from an antique finish and some impressive levels of relief, it’s the design that will carry this on. The three nudes in the centre are certainly graceful and, while we’d like to have seen them a little closer together like Canova’s statue, there’s no denying what a superb piece of sculpting it is. The level of detail in the floral arrangements to the left and right of the women is quite sublime, flowing perfectly to form a natural frame.
The obverse has that classic Greco-Roman border patter, but the main attraction here are some roses in the centre. Again, the strike is gorgeous, managing to avoid that simplistic ‘cartoonish’ look that often results with this subject. The perspective, depth and detail is perfect. Indeed, the whole coin has a classic style that will likely have added appeal to those turning away from the increased use of colour and inserts becoming more prevalent today.
Like all of Mint 21’s issues, this one is presented in a wooden box with a Certificate of Authenticity. Just 500 will be minted. We’re certainly impressed that they haven’t shied away from the nudity with an ill-defined design – instead, fully embracing the concepts encompassed by The Three Graces in their original Ancient Greek form. Available to pre-order now, it should ship around the end of April and we’re seeing pricing around the €200 mark.
THE THREE GRACES by Antonio Canova
Originally commissioned by Joséphine de Beauharnais, the famous French dictator, Napoleon’s first wife, The Three Graces is a 1.82m tall sculpture in white marble. Carved in Rome by the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova, it was completed in 1814 and now resides in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
The statue, in the Neoclassical style, depicts the three charities, Euphrosyne, Aglaea and Thalia, all daughters of Zeus. They were said to represent mirth (Euphrosyne), elegance (Aglaea), and youth/beauty (Thalia). They were said to have delighted the guests of the gods by presiding over events, like banquets, for example.
SPECIFICATION | |
DENOMINATION | $5 NZD (Niue) |
COMPOSITION | 0.999 silver |
WEIGHT | 62.2 grams |
DIMENSIONS | 50.0 mm |
FINISH | Antique |
MODIFICATIONS | High-relief |
MINTAGE | 500 |
BOX / C.O.A. | Yes / Yes |
Have you forgotten the CIT coins called “Majestic Eagle” and the technology called “smartminting RELOADED ?.
I say this because it seems strange to me that you have not yet written any article about such an important fact in modern numismatics.
Scheduled for Friday 21st. We mix things up a bit here and did a smartminting week a little while ago. Reloaded is very cool, but an enhancement to an existing technology, and while the coin is a good showcase for it, it wasn’t CIT’s best release at WMF.
I do not agree with what you say. smartminting RELOADED is not a mere update of the previous smartminting. It is something much bigger. If you do not think that the coin does not have a good design (For me it does), at least the new technology I think it does. I have seen many websites of numismatics that had never paid close attention to the previous smartminting and with the new version if they have dedicated these days articles.
Your article of the last coins of the Tiffany Art series begins with these words “Our penultimate look at smartminting this week”. After reading that anyone would think that you left the smartminting RELOADED for the next article, hence my biggest surprise to see that it has not been so.
First of all, I didn’t say Majestic Eagle wasn’t a good design. It is. I said it wasn’t CIT’s best at WMF20 and I stand by that. SM Reloaded is a superb ENHANCEMENT to an existing technology and it has massive potential. That doesn’t mean everything else gets pushed out of the way to cover it. There have been at least nine articles covering smartminted coins in the last three weeks alone and there are still a couple to do. Have the other websites done that? I chose to cover the next generation of smartminting after giving the large range of existing generation of coins a good look. Seemed logical to me. You’re free to disagree, of course, but my view won’t change.
Coin Collector,
I’m very interested if you could provide me with some other independent website that covers modern numismatics to the extent this one does.
If they are out there, I would be interested in visiting any one of them. I have yet to find one that lays out more pertinent info on recently issued moderns and more importantly on forthcoming releases as well as AgAuNews does.
High quality images, coin specs and historical background is what I want to see when I visit this site and like clockwork I find it. Another interesting aspect on this site is getting the editor’s opinion on the reviewed coin. He respondes to his readers’ inquiries and their opinions as well. It is an informative site and I visit it often. This Three Graces coin doesn’t replicate Antonio Canova’s work but adds just the right touch of modernization to an overall classic look. It’s a very nice design and appears will not have the unneeded flash of multiple finished surfaces or color.
I feel the relief should be sufficiently pleasing on its 50 mm surface, Sometimes the added “width” at the expense of more “height” gives a better appeal when in the hand. It seems the trend now to enhance the relief on smaller diameters with these 2oz versions.
I agree Mik, this looks to be a keeper and most likely will add one it to my collection.
Bob R,
Well, I know several pages that have dealt with the issue of smartminting RELOADED and the first coins that use this technology (the so-called Majestic Eagle´s). But I think it would not be convenient to provide them in a comment within this post. They are different media that spread numismatic news and I am not going to advertise them using this website, since I do not see it ethical. If I could send you a private message I would tell you the URLs with pleasure.
Mik Woodgate,
Well, it is clear that all people can have different opinions. We both have different opinions in the case of this numismatic technology.
Even so, I have to say, like this numismatic website (AgAuNews), there is no other. I want to say that I have never seen any other website specialized only in collector coins or bullion. Also in a few websites or blogs of numismatica respond their creators quickly to the messages of their readers and in AgAuNews, Mr. Mik behaves very well in this regard. The other numismatics website usually have everything (from the coins of antiquity to the present day) or devote themselves to very specific topics (Euro, US Dollar, UK Pound, etc).
I like coins of all types of epochs, but particularly the Classic Greek coins and modern collector coins.
Thanks Mik for creating this wonderful portal of collectors coins and Bullion!
Mik, AGAU news is a very unique site & I do not believe there is another like it out there. And this is due to your diligent & daily efforts in presenting & evaluating new & innovative modern numismatic issues. I agree-it’s a wonderful “portal” for those of us interested in coins. Kudos to you Mik-you’ve done something special here.