A bullion series produced by the NZ Mint in both one-ounce gold, and one-ounce silver formats. We’re unsure at present if it will spread out into the wider DC world, as the current selection seems to be drawing characters solely from the roster of The Justice League, and heroes only. That may change, but there have been no 2023 dated releases.

A series of proof finish coins featuring the major DC characters, and depicted in their purest form, eschewing colour, and other additions. There are four formats in the range, offering three different designs, all boxed with a COA.

The one-ounce silver depicts the character against a largely clean background, with just a small, full-body image, and a logo. While the three-ounce silver is fundamentally the same, it has a vastly more detailed background, showing character views in comic book panels. The gold versions, both of them, carry a cropped portrait from the silver coin.

The legendary Man of Steel was 85 years old in 2023, having come into being just before the outbreak of the Second World War. The NZ Mint released a range of three coins to mark the occasion, each in a different format, and with a different design.

Very similar to the DC Classic series, minus the gold versions, this series employs colour highlights on the reverse face, and focuses on the villains, rather than the heroes. The three ounce versions have a more detailed panelled background than the one ounce, but the basic designs are almost identical otherwise.

A series similar to the mints ‘Faces of the Empire’ Star Wars coins, these are literally faces done in the style of the comic books rather than the movies, and shaped to suit. An ounce in weight and brightly coloured, they’re well presented in a windowed box. They have a fast release schedule, all seven currently available having debuted in a single year.

Most superheroes have a logo, or symbol that represents them, so a natural subject for a coin series. Thee coins are shaped, but are quite basic, with thick, plain edges, and lacking high-relief. The colour helps, and all are very recognisable.

Not a series, more of a range of random subjects depicted on rectangular, one-ounce silver coins. Some neat designs so far, so perhaps something to watch.

Just like the rectangular coins, but more traditionally shaped. The Swamp Thing coin was issued via US dealer, Glines and Rhodes, rather than by the mint direct.

The Batmobile has always been an iconic element of the Caped Crusader’s lore, and a great marker of the time it was created. Only three of these coins were released, despite the wealth of options, and all are movie based. Not one of the mints best, in our view.

When you take one of the most iconic superhero characters of all time and give him to one of the best comic artists of the modern age, you get a story like Batman: Hush. Originally published over 12 issues of Batman (#608 in Oct 2002 until #619 in Sept 2003, the Jeph Loeb penned story was pencilled by Jim Lee and tells the story of Hush, a stalker seemingly obsessed with creating havoc in Batman’s life.

Considered one of the best Batman stories, it had a comprehensive cast of iconic characters, including Catwoman, Harvey Dent, Superman, The Joker, Scarecrow, and The Riddler, amongst many others. A great series taking full advantage of the brilliant artwork.

One of many comic book cover series, this is the base range, and strangely, probably the best of the,. Edge to edge artwork, and a neat edge finish aping an actual comic book, lifts this over the bigger, two-ounce variants.

A pointless, two-ounce version of the one-ounce originals, lacking the neat edge details of its smaller, earlier brethren. Time and resources would be better spent elsewhere, in our opinion.

Very similar in style and concept to the older Crown Mint set, the Marvel Kawaii Collection recently appeared at the Singapore Mint, and is also a one-ounce silver series. These come nicely boxed, and in a display frame with a diamond orientation. The tiny mintage is attractive.

The quirkiest of them all is this Batarang-shaped one-ounce coin. It’s fairly simple in design, but that’s okay – it fits the subject well. A small area on the obverse, with the Samoan emblem on it, rounds out the design. Very clean, and to the point. A black coloured one comes in a box with a COA, and at a higher price. Something for the kids to throw at each other…

Obviously inspired by the mint’s Star Wars series, this one hasn’t been as popular, given this is, to date, the only release. A shame, as it’s a much better coin than the Faces of Gotham designs.

Okay, I’m going to admit up front to having a soft-spot for this quite mad series. Rampaging across TV screens in the late 1960’s for a total of 120 episodes, there probably hadn’t been a cast asked to say lines like these since acting began, but they all took it in their strides to produce a fun, escapist body of classic television that remains beloved today.

These are not ambitious coins, choosing to stick with the tried and tested proof 1oz coloured silver format, especially popular with the memorabilia market as well as traditional coin collectors. They’re well composed and attractive pieces that allow the mad fun of the subject to show through.