Struck by the German Bayer Mint, the Somali Elephant bullion coin is one that sports all new reverse side artwork every year and is thus a perfect candidate for inclusion in the Golden Enigma series. Generally considered one of the more attractive bullion coins, it’s a series that already attracts appreciation in its earlier issues but has tapered off as the mintage has risen.

This is a decent way to get the later design and at least it won’t suffer from the milk-spotting that buyers are reporting as more common with the bullion coin itself. This would be a prime candidate for continuation in the Golden Enigma range with a 2016 release.

Another of the markets favourite silver bullion coins gets the Golden Enigma treatment, the Chinese Panda. It’s another coin that has been subject to some serious mintage increases over the last few years, but it’s a fine looking series with an annually changing reverse side. Because of this it’s another perfect candidate for the GE treatment and indeed one that has already been revisited with a 2015 variant.

As for this specific designs merits, it’s perhaps one of the least successful of the coins released to date, the gilding in particular not having the same impact as the Elephant and especially the American Silver Eagle. It doesn’t help that the original artwork was not considered one of the best, not helped by coming after the widely liked three-panda 2013 coin. Aesthetics are a personal choice however, so it may well be your favourite.

Also struck in Germany, the Gabon Springbok, also called the African Ounce, is unique in this range we believe in that it’s also a product of the Golden Enigma producers, AllCollect. Not a widely known coin, the reverse side borrows the Springbok design from one of the worlds most iconic numismatics, the Krugerrand. If you’re going to borrow artwork, pick something popular we guess.

Yet another bullion coin whose design is pretty much fixed, it’s good to see one but we’d hardly clamour for an annual repeat of it.  The Golden Enigma process suits the coin well, although perhaps a little too many of the text inscriptions have been gilded, the composition gilding being unnecessary in our view. Overall, a worthy addition and one that will be many collectors only contact with this bullion coin.

Pretty much identical to the 2014 Golden Enigma version, maybe showing a lack of willingness to experiment with the concept, there’s nothing to distinguish this over that one other than personal preference. That’s more a reflection of the original bullion coin however, which was criticised for not being different enough to the year befores design. As we said, it doesn’t help that they both follow the collector favourite design on the 2013 release.

This coin is based on the New Zealand Mints primary bullion coin, the Fiji Taku. Available for the last few years, it was changed in 2014 to become the Niue Hawksbill Turtle after Fiji, as the result of disruptive internal politics, became harder to deal with and the economics of  issuing the coin became economically unviable. Because of this, the two versions of this coin available as Golden Enigma variants are dated earlier than the others, are minted in smaller quantities, and sell for a higher price.

The two versions have a mintage of just 200 pieces each and unusually have identical reverse side designs. In this case it’s the obverse that changes, brought about by the expulsion of Fiji from the Commonwealth, meaning it’s currency could no longer carry an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. The 2012 obverse does indeed carry the Ralph Maklouf effigy of the Queen, but for 2013 it changed to the Fijiian emblem. Which you prefer is a matter of taste. The Queen does appear on an inordinate amount of coins, but does also provide an air of legitimacy that may bear fruit in the longer term.

It’s always been a popular and fine design made even more so by the GE process, but the higher prices are a little off-putting for what is basically still a bullion coin with a third-party aftermarket application applied to it. It’s possible that the Niue Hawksbill Turtle bullion coin may appear in the series in the future.

The latest coin to be released, this one is a version of a bullion coin almost as common as the American Silver Eagle. The Royal Canadian Mints SIlver Maple Leaf coin has recently had its design heavily tweaked, although remaining much the same in general appearance. The addition of radiating lines on both sides, ostensibly for security reasons, has momentarily raised interest in what has become a perennially unchanging, and thus increasingly boring coin.

Fortunately, AllCollect have chosen the new one to raise to Golden Enigma status, but don’t expect any further changes in the near future as the Maple isn’t a coin known for them. There are numerous privy mark versions available, so one of those in any future release might be better, but this again is a decent looking conversion and will find many admirers.