EXCLUSIVE: World Cultures take centre stage on the Mint of Polands latest silver coin series

We’ve been lucky to get an exclusive on another new series from the Mint of Poland and this one is called World Cultures. It will be showcasing iconic items from some of the worlds more colourful and striking cultures. The first issue is a perfect example of what we can look forward to. Tibet has a level of mysticism associated with it that has fascinated Westerners for decades.

One of the unusual items to come from the region is the Kapala Skull. A Kapala is a cup made from a human skull and is used in both Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra as a ritual implement. Tibetan skullcups are known for their ornate carving and are often mounted with elaborate gems and precious metals. They are used in Tibetan monasteries to hold bread or dough cakes, torma, and wine in place of blood and flesh.  The offerings are to potent gods like Dharmapāla (“defender of the faith”), and the Karpala is often depicted being carried by many deities of the Vajrayana in both Hindu and Buddhist religious imagery.

Like the Cronus coin we looked at a couple of days ago, karpala uses what is becoming an incredibly popular format in modern numismatics. The two-ounce, high-relief, rimless silver coin has become the darling of the higher-end world and for good reason. It allows an ambitious design at a reasonable cost, with plenty of metal available to form impressive levels of relief. While we only have renders at present, we haven’t been disappointed by the transition from this to reality on the numerous Mint of Poland issues we’ve covered over the last few years.

The relief certainly looks good on this one. The skull and surrounding art are quite intricate and the small turquoise placed on the forehead is itself surrounded by plenty of fine detail. With CIT’s dimensional skull range, and the Mint of Poland’s Carved Skull series, you’d be understandably thinking another skull line might be too much, but World Cultures is most definitely not a skull series. This first issue has one – the next one won’t. It should grow into quite an eclectic set as time passes.

The obverse should be one common to the series and is also packed with fine detail all over. Issued for Cameroon, it features the African nations emblem in the centre, but the border is unique to this series. As with Cronus, we’ll be taking a better look at the coin when real world images are available, but in the meantime, Karpala Skull should be up for preorder shortly and shipping in around 5-8 weeks. The mintage is capped at 500 pieces and the coin will be distributed by Numiartis and Magikos Coins.