The fifth in the mints DC Comics Emblems collection, Green Lantern is one of the oldest and most popular characters in that expansive pantheon. This one follows the same pattern as Superman, Batman, Aquaman, and The Flash, although it looks less extreme as it’s around emblem, so basically coin shaped anyway.

Great quality presentation and a nice strike means a good item for the fan of the comic universe.

What can we say about Chiba that we haven’t already said? Not much, actually, so just head on over to our very comprehensive Coin Series Profile of the range for more.

One  concern is that our belief the mint would move on to other subjects when a sub-set had covered all the main subjects, has turned out to be premature. Both of these issues are rehashes of previous releases. We can kind of understand the Batman one, as that character was the first Chiba subject and missed by many (plus it does look good), but Harry Potter in his pyjamas seems a bit of a stretch. Time will tell. Whatever, these coins are impeccably produced and this will be no different.

The Perth Mint also has a healthy presence in the popular culture licence market with such icons as the Simpsons, and more, but recently it’s been James Bond taking centre stage. A series of coins, one per movie,  is currently in progress and the latest one is ‘For Your Eyes Only, the Roger Moore led effort. These are decent coins and this one follows the same pattern, melding elements of the movie into a single scene. A bit unadventurous perhaps, but the 007 memorabilia fan will likely approve.

Good doggie time and Disney is providing Pluto for the job. A one-ounce shaped coin, something we’re seeing much more often these days, the Pluto coin does have quite a large border around the coloured image, but is otherwise a neat enough design for the Disney collector. Well presented, of course, as you’d expect from the NZ Mint.

This one was quite a surprise, but a pleasant one. Another shaped piece, they rarely hit the five-ounce weight category, however. We have to say, this is an impressive looking coin, with a superb rendering of the famed Caped Crusader in full flight. A great use of perspective and a very neat obverse full of small batman logos.

It has a vibrant colour varnish on the reverse face, and is otherwise antique-finished. Reaching out to an expansive 75mm in size, this is probably our favourite DC coin to date.

Despite the ever more convoluted world of media franchise licencing, we were surprised to see the Monnaie de Paris putting out Harry Potter coins given the mints overwhelming focus on French subjects and the tenuous link to the hit Potter universe, but not only did they dive head first into it, they’re back for more – quite a bit more, in fact.

Earlier this year they issued the first half of an 18-coin series of cheap and cheerful coins struck in the anaemic 0.333 fineness silver. The plus side of this, and something we feel most other mints forget, is that they’re very affordable for the younger collector at just €12 (€14 for coloured). They’re also well presented in custom blisterpacks. Now, the second wave of 9 issues completes the set. We have to say, these look terrific for the money, with a wide selection of styles and subjects – indeed, some of the best with seen for the Wizarding Universe. If you like Potter and don’t like any of these, we feel sorry for the poor sod that has to buy you a birthday present, as you’re very hard to please!

Also part of the French NumisPotterverse (not sure our name for it will catch on…) is a 3 gram proof gold coin. This is the second time this month that the Golden Snitch has hit a coin, and the French coin couldn’t be more different from the fully dimensional MDM coin. It looks okay, it’s fine gold and it’s relatively affordable compared to gold coins from others, like the NZ Mint, although not neceessarily better value per gram.

Last of the French second wave of Potter coins, these are just over an ounce in weight and are the last pair in a set of four. Struck in 90% silver with colour highlights, they’re essentially bigger coins of similar style to the base range. They’re rarer and more collectable, but no better in design, so you’re not missing out if you’re budget isn’t huge. Despite that, these sell for a reasonable €59.00 anyway, pretty good considering the €50 denomination and the size, especially compared to the equivalent €68+ that the Royal Mint charges for an 8 gram 0.925 silver coin.

We’ve always liked the New Zealand Mint’s ‘Classic’ line of coins more than the gimmicky stuff on the market today. Very clean and well defined designs, these are traditional coins that should, and have had a lot of appeal to traditional coin collectors, going right back to the first Darth Vader coin in the ‘Star Wars Classic’ series. While not billed as a ‘Classic’, Legolas is clearly of that ilk.

This one is strictly 0.25oz only, so no bigger 1oz version this time, but the design looks really good and recognisable – distinctly different to the 1oz silver release for the same character.

The fourth in the Alice in Wonderland collection, based on the Disney animated movie rather than the books that the Royal Mint has focused on. A simple coloured proof 1oz coin, it’s a well chosen scene. A solid acrylic frame makes display easy.

We’ve already covered the new APMEX Shrek bullion coins in our roundup a couple of days ago, but there’s a third variant which we’ve put here. It’s simply a coloured version of the silver coin, provided in a slab-like capsule (the coin isn’t graded, however)

The other Lord of the Rings Legolas coin released by the NZ Mint, this differs from the gold coin in using colour to highlight the character. Whether you prefer this or not is a matter of taste, but it looks decent enough and they are well produced.