Just as we did a couple of days ago with the New Zealand Mint, here, we’re playing a bit of catch-up with some of the Mint of Poland’s latest releases, specifically, their more ambitious designs. This mint is especially well known for its two-ounce, antique finished, high-relief coins in the mythology genre, striking for themselves, and for a host of other producers. So prevalent were they, that we did a full guide to them, which does need a bit of updating, if I’m honest.

Four of the five coins we’re covering here have an almost identical base specification, just one of them veering off in having a 50 mm diameter, instead of the others 45 mm. The embellishments over the antique finish vary, but they all seem well-chosen, and devoid of gimmickry. The fifth coin embraces the gimmicks, and is about as different from the other four as can be. The Mint of Poland loves to experiment, and UFO is a prime example of that.

To say Odin has been popular as a coin subject over the last decade, would be something of an understatement. With that popularity has come some serious talent as well, and some of those coins have been quite beautiful. The Mint of Poland has produced a design that can stand with those, even if the obverse is a little plain.

Odin is depicted with his one of his two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, and one of his two wolves, Geri and Freki. He holds in his hand his spear, named Gungnir. There’s an impressive runic background pattern, embellished with leaves from the northern forests. A circular runic area has a raised edge, and is filled with a translucent red resin. Some gilded highlights round out the effect, on what we think is a fine addition to the genre.

The Germania Mint has done wonders in raising the profile of the Northern European cultures of antiquity, and the Mint of Poland his tapping into that newfound interest with a nice design of their own, reminiscent of Germania’s own ‘Warriors’ series. The coin is titled ‘Barbarians’, and at present, we aren’t sure if this is to be a series of barbarian coins, or a series of Germanic culture coins. We suspect the former.

The depiction is from the times of the late Roman Empire, and the background features a rampage through Rome, complete with a soon-to-be deceased legionary, and flames hinting at the late sacking of the empire’s capital. The warrior in the foreground is superb, with excellent anatomy, and a fearsome pose. The blood-splattered sword is an excellent touch, far better than the usual full colouration of the blade we’ve seen elsewhere. Again, the obverse is deadly dull, but that’s a niggle, and we’re impressed with this one.

Like Odin, Anubis is not a rare subject in modern numismatics, but it isn’t one this mint has done a lot of. The background is a similar composition of different elements from the subject culture, and here we have hieroglyphics, a sarcophagus, and a pyramid. Pride of place goes to Anubis himself, the jackal-headed god, shown carrying the ankh-staff associated with him.

The blue colour, and selective gilding is beautifully done, The swirling, unwrapping bandages coming from the sarcophagus is a nice touch, hinting that perhaps, Anubis had come from it. As you may have guessed by now, the obverse is a bog-standard one, which is a shame.

Calypso emanates from Greek mythology, and was one of the characters in that seminal work of literature, Homer’s Odyssey. She was said to be a beautiful nymph, the daughter of a Titan, and responsible for detaining Odysseus for seven years. He escaped, and Calypso took her own life,

The coin has a strong nautical theme. A raised border is formed from seashells, and does double-duty by holding in the translucent blue resin that fills the background of the coin. Behind that are stylised winds, or currents. The moon, in its many phases, is shown arcing around the top. Calypso is obviously the primary element, and the depiction is excellent, done in the style of Greek statuary, although with considerably more flamboyant hair, made up of octopus tentacles. The obverse has been beautified to great effect.

Our last coin today is one that couldn’t be more different from the other four if it tried. Launched at the World Money Fair, we overlooked this for some inexplicable reason, so here we are. It’s basically a silver coin, around seven ounces in weight, shaped like a UFO, and enhanced with some UV colour, copper plating, and resin. It’s a classic UFO-disc in shape, so perfect for a coin, and has a decent stab at aping the popular image of one,

The big selling point here isn’t the shape, however, but its ability to hover over a base. This isn’t a simple embedded magnet, however, as the coin has a small engine within that generates an electromagnetic field, allowing it to hover over the base, even spinning in place. Look, we know its gimmicky, but you have to admire the technical skills of this very accomplished mint, and it’s the perfect marriage of theme and gimmick. If you want one, you’ll have to cough up over one thousand of your Earth dollars, but we have a feeling these will sell out anyway.