Numiartis has showcased four Greek gods in its groundbreaking series and now the big daddy, ‘Zeus’ steals the limelight
It was with the debut of the first in the Gods series from Numiartis back in 2017, that collectors took notice of a new wave of ancient lythology coins from the Mint of Poland. That stunning piece of numismatic art opened up the floodgates to a hugely impressive repertoire of beautiful coin issues that continues to this day.
Ares was the first in this series, but by no means the last. It was followed by Poseidon, Hephaestus, and Apollo, each of an equally high standard. The King of the Gods, Zeus, is the fifth to launch. Just a couple of images at present, but they are of an actual coin, not renders, and it looks well up to the job of keeping the series reputation intact.
Zeus is the most powerful of the Greek Gods, linked with the sky and thunder, so his depiction on the coin is very apt. Hurtling to Earth from Olympus with an eagle at his side (a common association), and holding the lightning bolt for which he is famous, it’s full of power and dynamism. The gilded element, which is a series signature, is well chosen, the lightning bolts seeming to glow with power. A really cool piece of art all told.
As before, this is a two-ounce, ultra-high relief silver coin with an antique finish. It comes boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity, of course. If you have any of the previous issues, you’ll no doubt want to pick up one of the 500 Zeus coins that make up the mintage. It’s available to order now from Intercoins Berlin, or from a selection of other dealers around the world. First class. Again.
| SPECIFICATION | |
| DENOMINATION | $2 NZD (Niue) |
| COMPOSITION | 0.999 silver |
| WEIGHT | 62.2 grams |
| DIMENSIONS | 45.0 mm |
| FINISH | Antique |
| MODIFICATIONS | Ultra high-relief, Gilding |
| MINTAGE | 500 |
| BOX / C.O.A. | Yes / Yes |
A really nice depiction of Zeus in a full glide, with the eagle is cool.
I see he also has Aegis with the Gorgon, a nice touch there as well.
As always I’ll throw in my opinion, I would have liked if they would have just polished the large lightening bolt instead of using the gilding.
Just a simple change of pace from all the gold gilding being layered on a lot of moderns these days.
Nonetheless, It’s a good design for sure!
Dynamic piece. Best one since Poseidon, which is the best one, although Ares did break new ground. Why quibble Bob R-it’s a good one.
Who’s quibbling…its my opinion and I like to express it once in awhile…nothing more than that Harry P.
I said the ZEUS coin’s design is a good one. A lot to see with great perspective.
My point was that gold gilding has it’s place and can add a nice touch to a design, but I think it is being overplayed by a lot of coin artists recently.
On this piece I think that much scale on the gilding intrudes on the design somewhat.
I know this theme is mythical, but even so… most lightening bolts I see are absent of color.
Again my opinion would have been to highly “polish” or even better yet overlay some white ceramic on that large bolt of lightening.
It would have given the contrast they apparently wanted, and looked more suitable to me….yeh…no precious metal needed here.
I don’t see any new ground in minting techniques the Ares coin broke… it followed many issues using the same format of being rimless , high relief with selective gilding in an antique finish.
Nothing new there, the Ares coin was just a very good design, but still had some “beyond borders” gilding issues. The MOP has recently made positive strides in cleaning that issue up though.
Thanks again Mik for maintaining this platform for us coin enthusiasts to express their opinions !
Bob R (Comment)
‘I know this theme is mythical, but even so… most lightening bolts I see are absent of color.
Again my opinion would have been to highly “polish” or even better yet overlay some white ceramic on that large bolt of lightening.
It would have given the contrast they apparently wanted, and looked more suitable to me….yeh…no precious metal needed here.’
How do you achieve this technically , i am wondering ? do you know how to do it. i think u might be right.
However i think still a very nice piece considering the restriction they have assuming they have .
Fair enough Bob R. I can’t disagree w/anything you said.