This is the format that started it all off in the fine art ranges, demonstrating the sheer size for the weight of precious metal, and featuring great relief designed to replicate the texture often seen in paintings, especially where impasto was used by the original artist.

Some have fake frames of quite intricate design surrounding them, some are gilded, some are horizontally orientated, and one is square. Some have a banknote inspired design on the obverse, and some are more creatively artistic. In four cases, there is even a choice of finishes. We love that the range isn’t restricted to a single, strictly enforced design language. After all, artists aren’t.

While Van Gogh has been the primary focus of this range, Leonardo da Vinci has enjoyed three releases. Both Salvatore Mundi, and the Mona Lisa sport intricate frames struck into the metal, which are gilded on both faces. Lady with Ermine is quite different, choosing to focus directly on the artwork across two faces, and probably our favourite of the three.

There are no differences from the Van Gogh, or Leonardo ranges when it comes to specification or finish. The same mix of antique, colour and gilding for different issues remains. There’s a particular breadth of design on the obverse faces, which we like a lot,

The coin with the red title, Klimt’s ‘Portrait of a Lady’, is entirely copper, utilising no silver in its composition. The experiment has not been repeated for some reason, as we find it hard to tell the difference.

Again, these are fundamentally the same as the previous Bi-Metal Max releases, but in this case, the amount of silver is halved to one-ounce, and the amount of copper reduced from 33.5 to 14 ounces. They remain impressive in size for the weight of silver, and they retain all the high-relief that makes their bigger counterparts so realistic in texture up close.

Tri-Metal Max is the producer’s latest iteration of this concept and debuted with the 2024 issues. At the time of writing, only Vincent van Gogh’s works have appeared on it, but that isn’t to say it won’t widen its subject base in the future.

Tri-Metal Max, as the name suggests, introduces a third metal into the mix. It now has a 120 gram copper base, over which is a 750 gram zinc centre, with 2.5 ounces of fine silver on top. Now, zinc has a lower density than copper (Cu is 8.96 g/cm3, while Zn is 7.13 g/cm3.), so more of it is needed for a specific weight. The end result, is an even bigger coin, with no outward differences of the appearance.

Tri-Metal Max is the producer’s latest iteration of this concept and debuted with the 2024 issues. The range has expanded to cover artists other than Vincent van Gogh, starting with Klimt.

Tri-Metal Max, as the name suggests, introduces a third metal into the mix. It now has a 120 gram copper base, over which is a 750 gram zinc centre, with 2.5 ounces of fine silver on top. Now, zinc has a lower density than copper (Cu is 8.96 g/cm3, while Zn is 7.13 g/cm3.), so more of it is needed for a specific weight. The end result, is an even bigger coin, with no outward differences of the appearance.

The packaging on the smaller coins is a neat cardboard box, fully themed, and with the Certificate of Authenticity printed on the back. The bigger coins come in a far more substantial box, of a very high quality, and with a huge amount of theming. We’ve seen a Dr. Gachet coin in hand, and the presentation is first class. We’ve yet to see a Tri-Metal Max coin box in hand, or in images.