Movie, TV and Popular Culture coin roundup for early September – Batman, Monsters Inc, and head bangers

This is our third, roughly fortnightly round-up of coins in the popular culture genre. This has turned out to be an excellent way to corral the ever-increasing number of such coins, which are popular, so worthy of coverage, but time consuming for a one-man band like AgAuNEWS. We do still run Quicklooks on some stuff, especially bullion, and we will have full articles on more ambitious coins, like MDM’s Harry Potter range, for example, but I think this format is here to stay.

Another eclectic mix. CIT’s Iron Maiden coin looks exceptionally well done, and the Crown Mint’s ‘Marvel Mini Heroes’ range could be popular. The rest covers a mix of TV and movie properties, right up to a Russian Wile E. Coyote style animation! As with our last roundup, all of the coins are an ounce or under in weight, reflecting an intended market made up of quite a few new collectors just dabbling, rather than more hardcore collectors.

IRON MAIDEN: THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST (CIT)

One of the biggest and most influential bands of all time, especially in the field of Heavy Metal, Iron maiden have sold over 100 million albums. One of their greatest albums is the 1982 launched ‘The Number of the Beast’, their third, and their first to top the UK album charts.

One thing in particular that 80’s/90’s Heavy Metal had in abundance was iconic album art. This album featured a cover by Derek Riggs, also responsible for many of the bands album covers, including the first one. It’s a visually arresting piece of art and combined with CIT’s dark Black Obsidian finish, is reproduced superbly on this one-ounce proof coin.

The coin comes in one of CIT’s latex floating frames for easy display, and given the popularity of their AC/DC range, we’re expecting this to pull in quite a few fans. If we weren’t so swamped at the moment this would’ve had its own post, but c’est la vie, as they say. Available to order now with a mintage that matches the year the album debuted.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$2 (Cook Islands) 0.999 silver 31.1 g 38.61 mm Obsidian Black 1,982 YES / YES

MONSTERS INC. (New Zealand Mint)

Another new franchise joins the Disney crowd and it’s a classic one we’re sure will draw many collectors in. Monsters Inc is 20 years old, hence the coin, and its typical NZ Mint fare in that it’s very well produced, superbly presented, but a little unadventurous in concept. To be fair, these are aimed at movie fans searching for some high quality memorabilia, so looking like a traditional coin is likely a big plus. This mint certainly knows its audience better than most.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$2 NZD (Niue) 0.999 silver 31.1 g 40.0 mm Proof / Colour 2,001 YES / YES

WELL, JUST YOU WAIT (Czech Mint)

Something a little unusual this time, ‘Well, Just You Wait’ is like a Russian version of Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. The mint describes it; The wacky adventures of the wolf and the hare began on 14 June 1969 with an episode in which they met on a sunny beach. The cute little hare one wanted to enjoy a day of swimming, sunbathing and water-skiing, but a greedy hooligan armed with a spear gun and a snorkel decided to interupt it… The grotesque tale has been screened in over a hundred countries around the world, so it’s no wonder that some viewers haven’t shied away from comparisons with other animated series that share the same premise. This is a competition between two animals from different levels of the food pyramid, from which the weaker one always emerges as the winner. But director Vyacheslav Kotenochkin did not copy from anyone – for example, he did not see American Tom and Jerry cartoons for the first time until the late 1980s.”

This is the fifth in a five-coin set depicting scenes from the series. The first coin came with a folder to hold them all, but each one is boxed in one of the neat tins the Czech Mint is using these days. There’s a ten-gram silver version and a 3.1 gram (1/10oz) gold. The designs are as eclectic as you’d imagine and it makes you wonder why the aforementioned Wile E. Coyote hasn’t hit coins in the same way. Meep Meep!

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$1 NZD (Niue) 0.999 Silver 10.0 g 30.0 mm Proof 600 YES / YES
$5 NZD (Niue) 0.9999 Gold 3.11 g 16.0 mm Proof 300 YES / YES

BATMAN LOGO (New Zealand Mint)

The DC Comics Logo series continues with a third issue. Following The Flash and Aquaman comes one of the most iconic emblems in comic book history, Batman. Not much to say about this shaped coin. If you don’t know what it depicts, it’s time to get out from under that rock…

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$2 NZD (Tuvalu) 0.999 silver 31.1 g 32.0 X 20.8 BU / colour 5,000 YES / YES

MARVEL MINI HEROES (The Crown Mint)

The New Zealand Mint’s smash-hit ‘Chibi’ series has inevitably brought competition with it, including similar ‘Super-Deformed’ ranges from The Coin Company (Back to the Future) and LPM (Street Fighter). Now the Crown Mint is releasing its own 24-coin range giving us loads of the Marvel Superheroes in miniature form. Three are out now – Captain America, Iron-Man, and Black Panther, and we can expect to see many of the big guns in the coming months.

Each coin looks pretty neat, sure to please the legions of Marvel fans, and come in custom capsules in a themed blisterpack. There’s an autoship subscription where the Crown Mint will ship you the latest coin every month ($99.95 each) and with the third coin (Black Panther) comes the collection box pictured above. You can also buy one seperastely for $29.95 and it holds 12 pieces.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$2 (Fiji) 0.999 silver 31.1 g circa 40.0 mm Proof / colour 2,500 each YES / YES

ALICE IN WONDERLAND THE MAD HATTER (New Zealand Mint)

Not the most adventurous of coins, the Alice in Wonderland series nevertheless manages to do a decent job of showcasing the Disney classic movie with an intelligent choice of scene to depict. This is the third coin in the set, and as you’d expect from the New Zealand Mint, is beautifully presented and superbly struck. If the subject appeals, you’ll find little to complain about here.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$2 NZD (Niue) 0.999 silver 31.1 g 40.0 mm Proof / colour 2,000 YES / YES

SHREK: PUSS-IN-BOOTS (The Coin Company)

This looks to be an extremely popular series with both the Shrek and Donkey coins selling quickly. The third coin is the king of cool, Puss-in-Boots, voiced in the movies by none other than Antonio Banderas. As you can see, a shaped coin, coloured on the reverse, and very nicely presented. Easy to see why they’re popular.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$2 NZD (Niue) 0.999 silver 31.1 g TBC Proof / colour 1,000 YES / YES