Some of the most beautiful coins ever created were done so over 2,000 years ago in Greece. Historically significant, and intimately representing the various city states that made up the region at the time, they represented the best of our early numismatic history, opening up wider history at the same time. CIT’s range takes coins from certain city states, and applies modern minting technology to them, especially ultra-high-relief. You can read tons more on the previous issues in our Coin Series Profile of the range.

This final time we’re off to Delphi, home to the famous Oracle that was said to advise Greek leaders on future events. Delphi was home to the Temple of Apollo, where the Pythia (priestess) made her prophecies. It was known as the navel of the world, which marked the place where Zeus’s eagles met. The coin that inspired this release, a Trihemiobol, was struck around 500 BCE, and ranged around 1.5 grams in weight. The ram was a favoured sacrificial animal to the gods, and could be pictured facing left or right, and was usually flanked by one or two dolphins.

As always, a quite stunning coin, with the antiqued finish looking fantastic, especially on the gold, where its use is much rarer. There’s also a terrific little half-gram minigold coin that captures the spirit of the original, if not the same levels of relief. It’s an incredible shame that this series has now ended.

This is a simple series of one-ounce silver coins, coloured on one face, and featuring animals. On the surface that seems a recipe for unadventurous coins, but nothing could be further from the truth. The artwork on this series has been sublime, with outstanding portrayals of a wide range of mammalian creatures, enhanced with expertly employed, subtle colouration. Even the common obverse has been enhanced with environmental imagery.

The ninth coin is one of my favourites, featuring a Snow Leopard cub. These enigmatic stars of many a trail-cam production, are native to the mountains of Central and South Asia, inhabiting heights of 3,000-4,500 metres. Hunting ungulate prey, they’re relatively small, but still hit up to 75 kg, and are armed with formidable dentition.

Again, it’s a real shame this series has ended, especially given most earlier issues have sold out, but the nine issues do make a fine collection that comes highly recommended by AgAuNEWS. I have a Coin Series Profile in production, and that should be published soon.

Golden Landscapes is all new, and uses layered high-relief, antique finishing, and gilded highlights to depict a scene of the Scottish Highlands. A stunning region of the world, full of mountain vistas, and history, both of which are shown on the coin, the latter by the depiction of castle ruins. The foreground cleverly employs the gilding to show us a golden cornfield, maybe used in the production in one of the greatest creations in human history – single malt Scotch…

It’s a very pretty scene that captures this region well, and the little fox glyph is a nice touch. The obverse is basic, but we’re very impressed with this coin. CIT have a habit of testing the water with new designs before committing to a series, but we suspect this one will pass the test with ease, and we’ll see another one next year.

Sloth continues CIT’s trip through the seven deadly sins, and what better animal to depict it in this series than the animal that shares the name of the sin. These are relatively simple coins that rely completely on the quality of the animal’s depiction, and as you’d expect, they haven’t disappointed yet again. The sloth is shown chilled to the max on a branch, by a beach. It generates feelings of envy rather than sloth for me, and I’m jealous of the little fella’s lot in life!

The coin uses a mix of a proof strike and subtle monochrome colouring to impart an almost photorealistic look to the animal. This is the fourth in a series of seven, and we’re just hoping the last one isn’t a head in a box… 😉

With 2026 being the year that the United States hit its 250th birthday, and the numismatic world piling in on the celebrations, it’s of little surprise that CIT have joined them with a pair of coins, the first of which is this neat issue featuring that most potent symbols of the country, the Statue of Liberty. Sitting proudly on Liberty Island in New York Harbour, the Statue of
Liberty is a 93 m tall neoclassical sculpture, donated by the people of
France to the people of the United States. Dedicated on October 28,
1886 after over a decade in construction, the statue was designed by
French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and built by the creator of
the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Gustave Eiffel.

It’s a popular theme in modern coins, but CIT’s take is a little different. The statue is struck in ultra-high-relief over an enamel filled background, behind which is the Manhattan skyline. Clouds sit both on and under the enamel, giving added depth to the design. It’s a clever, beautifully struck coin, and one we suspect will be popular enough to spawn Timeless Icons into an ongoing series.

Again, this is a new offering, and perhaps the debut of a new series should popularity ensue. It’s the welcome release of the more affordable half-ounce silver coin format, one that’s been sadly missed in recent years, but one that seems to be back as the price of precious metal has risen. Called World Landmarks, it depicts the iconic Mount Rushmore, so a timely release for the America250 celebrations.

It’s the style of the design that draws attention here, choosing not to depict the famous mountain portraits in a realistic form, but as a watercolour painting. The end result is very satisfying, and quite unique, enhanced by the paper-like textured finish. Despite being just a half-ounce in weight, it’s still a crown-sized coin with a 38.61 mm diameter, so you’re giving up very little for that saving. The design would not benefit from high-relief, and we think CIT have made some spot-on decisions with this one. The theme has huge potential, with such locations as Abu Simbel, and the Buddhas of Bamiyan, making fine potential candidates.

Finally, we have the obligatory lunar series, and we’ve always been admirers of CIT’s take on this perennial numismatic favourite. There’s the banknote silver foil, and half-gram minigold, of course, but the star of this range has always been the fully dimensional silver coin.

As 2027 is the Year of the Ram, we get one in three-dimensional form, although the name ‘Fluffy Sheep’ seems a little odd! The realisation of the animal is as cute as ever, and it joins a range of equally attractive lunar symbols, which you can see in our comprehensive Coin Series Profile of the range.