2015-2024 BIBLICAL STORIES by Scottsdale Mint

Launched in December 2014, Biblical Series is produced by Scottsdale Mint, an American bullion company widely liked for its unusual bullion products like the Stacker and Tombstone series. Their first large venture into numismatic coins, the Biblical Series, is also one of the most ambitious in modern precious metal commemoratives. Designed to be released in sets of six annual coins, there will eventually be sixty in total, spread over a decade. While some series do reach these numbers, they’re not generally mapped out in advance.

Following the current trend for ancient mythology combined with high-relief strikes and antiqued silver, Biblical Series coins are struck in two ounces of fine silver. Issued for the Commonwealth island of Niue, the coins have a common obverse. In the centre sits the superb effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Raphael Maklouf. Surrounding it are inscriptions showing the denomination, issuer, the Queen’s name, the composition, and the date. The date is the only changing aspect of this face. Mintage for each is limited to 1,500.

Each coin in this epic series will depict a famous scene from the Bible. Whatever your views on the veracity of the stories within this almost omnipresent book, there’s no denying it’s full of clever and interesting tales. The book has also inspired some impressive works of art and architecture over the last couple of millennia, amongst them Gustave Doré and his large body of woodcut illustrations. Numbering in the hundreds, Scottsdale has no problem finding superb illustrations for the sixty coins.

The coins aren’t being released in any particular order, and the designs appear to be a good mix of Dore’s work. The translation from woodcut to coin is particularly impressive, enhanced by the rimless design and quality of the antique finish. Sculptor D’Almeda Novissimo is responsible for the designs, all of them we believe.

TABLE OF SUBSETS

2015 COINS 1-6

01: EXODUS

02: THE CRUCIFIXION

03: DAVID & GOLIATH

04: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

05: THE PALE HORSE

06: THE NEW JERUSALEM

2016 COINS 7-12

07: DANIEL IN THE LION’S DEN

08: THE LAST SUPPER

09: ADAM & EVE

10: THE GOOD SAMARITAN

11: EZEKIEL’S VISION

12: BIRTH OF JESUS

2017 COINS 13-18

13: BAPTISM OF JESUS

14: NAILING CHRIST TO THE CROSS

15: JACOB WRESTLING AN ANGEL

16: JESUS CALMS THE SEA

17: THE DEATH OF ABEL

18: THE WISE MEN

2018 COINS 19-24

19: NOAH’S DOVE

20: JESUS SCOURGED

21: THE CHARIOT OF FIRE

22: JOHN THE BAPTIST

23: THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS

24: THE ASCENSION

PAUL GUSTAVE DORE

Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré, born in Strasbourg on 6 January 1832, was a French artist, printmaker, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving. In 1853, Doré was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron, followed by additional work for British publishers, including a new illustrated Bible. In 1856, he produced twelve folio-size illustrations of The Legend of The Wandering Jew.

In the 1860s he illustrated a French edition of Cervantes’s Don Quixote, and his depictions of the knight and his squire, Sancho Panza, have become so famous that they have influenced subsequent readers, artists, and stage and film directors’ ideas of the physical “look” of the two characters. Doré also illustrated an oversized edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”, an endeavour that earned him 30,000 francs from publisher Harper & Brothers in 1883.

Doré’s illustrations for the Bible (1866), used for this coin series, were a great success, and in 1867 Doré had a major exhibition of his work in London. In 1869, Blanchard Jerrold, suggested that they work together to produce a comprehensive portrait of London. The completed book, London: A Pilgrimage, with 180 engravings, was published in 1872. Doré’s later work included illustrations for new editions of Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, The Works of Thomas Hood, and The Divine Comedy. Doré’s work also appeared in the weekly newspaper The Illustrated London News.

Doré was mainly celebrated for his paintings in his day. His paintings remain world-renowned, but his woodcuts and engravings, like those he did for Jerrold, are where he really excelled as an artist with an individual vision. Doré never married and, following the death of his father in 1849, he continued to live with his mother, illustrating books until his death in Paris on 23 January 1883 following a short illness. The city’s Père Lachaise Cemetery contains his grave. The government of France made him a Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur in 1861. (Source: Wikipedia)

ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DORE’S BIBLE HERE

ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DORE’S OTHER WORKS HERE

2019 COINS 25-30

25: SAMSON SLAYS THE LION

26: CROWN OF THORNS

27: THE FIRSTBORN SLAIN

28: CAST THE FIRST STONE

29: THE CROWNED VIRGIN

30: MOSES ON THE NILE

2020 COINS 31-36

31: JESUS WALKING ON THE SEA

32: THE JUDAS KISS

33: THE FIERY FURNACE

34: THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

35: DESTRUCTION OF LEVIATHAN

36: CHRIST IN THE SYNAGOGUE

2021 COINS 37-42

37: DEATH OF SAMSON

38: JESUS DELIVERED

39: JESUS PRAYING IN THE GARDEN

40: REBUILDING THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE

41: ST PAUL SHIPWRECKED

42: THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS

2022 COINS 43-48

43: CLEANSING THE TEMPLE

44: THE DEAD CHRIST

45: DESCENT OF THE SPIRIT

46: SAMSON AND THE GATES OF GAZA

47: THE DELUGE

48: JESUS HEALING THE SICK

2023 COINS 49-54

49: PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON

50: JESUS ENTERING INTO JERUSALEM

51: THE TOWER OF BABEL

52: SERMON ON THE MOUNT

53: ZECHARIAH’S VISION OF CHARIOTS

54: MOSES IN THE BULRUSHES

OBVERSE AND EDGE

PACKAGING OPTIONS

Each coin comes in a book-like box made of cardboard designed to look like leather, complete with gilded lettering and a gold coloured band to hold it closed. They're reasonably large but look okay and hold the certificate in the inside cover with a number that matches the edge inscription of the coin.

For those looking to collect six coins, be they from a single year's run or a mix over time, Scottsdale have produced a far superior alternative to hold them. Made of hand-sewn leather, the faux book opens to reveal spaces for six coins on one side, and slots to hold six certificates on the other. Designed to look like an old leather bible, even down to the ribbed spine and embossed lettering and image, it's a fine item perfectly suited to the series. About the only caveat we have is that it's dated on the spine. Without a date, it would better suit collectors of occasional coins spread over multiple years, as well as being less of a pain to produce and stock you'd have thought. A minor point and overall, it looked worth the $74.99 that it cost to procure originally, but we've noticed the new ones (2022) are touching $200 at APMEX, which is frankly ridiculous. We'd like to see more mints make the effort to produce some nice collection boxes/binders etc, especially as the number of coins in a set rises.

SPECIFICATION

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$2 NEW ZEALAND 0.999 SILVER 62.2 g 39.00 mm ANTIQUE 1,499 YES / YES

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International Justice Mission is a U.S.-based non-profit human rights organisation that operates in countries all over the world to rescue victims of individual human rights abuse. IJM works to combat human trafficking including the commercial sexual exploitation of children, forced labour slavery, illegal detention, police brutality and illegal land seizure. Based on referrals of abuse received from relief and development organisations, IJM conducts professional investigations of the abuses and mobilizes intervention on behalf of the victims.

Though it is a faith-based organisation, IJM assists victims regardless of their religion. The fourfold purpose of IJM is victim relief, perpetrator accountability, victim aftercare, and structural transformation.