Le Grand Mint are one of those producers who have a certain style to their coins, and it’s a very elegant one. Coins like the Durga range, and the Queen of Creativity issue, have a style all of their own, with the recent Freya being a particular favourite of mine. The quality of the artists that create the work is a key factor, with Miroslav Hric, and the artist responsible for this Phoenicia coin, Carmen Testa, being at the top of the game.

We’re almost in the world of female personifications, a particularly strong theme in the numismatic world, but here the woman represents an ancient culture rarely seen on coins, Phoenicia. This Mediterranean people, existing from around 2,500 BCE to 64 BCE, were based in what is now Lebanon and coastal parts of Syria. They were a maritime people, trading extensively around the Mediterranean as far west as the Iberian Peninsula, but leaving fewer records of themselves than the Egyptians.

The coin design dips into that heritage, and is centred around a beautiful woman with her arms outstretched, draped over which is an intricately decorated robe. The Phoenicians were known for their purple Tyrian dyes, which they traded with other cultures. Running over her shoulders are the two bands of the robe, bearing Phoenician script, which was the first verified alphabet, and inspired the Greek alphabet, and others. The lions on the sculpted relief at the top are taken from the old city of Baalbek, which has been continually inhabited for over 7,000 years, perhaps from the Temple of Bacchus, or Jupiter.

A very pretty coin, it’s clearly had considerable thought put into its design, and to great effect. The subject is a breath of fresh air, and incredibly interesting, to me at least, and Le Grand Mint, with Carmen Testa, are to be commended for it. There are two variants of this one-ounce high-relief silver coin on offer. The primary one is a proof coin with a 777 mintage, and the other a ruthenium and gold-plated coin, of which there will be only 222 examples. Whatever you get, it’s a fine release.