PREHISTORIC LIFE S2 (2024-2027) by Emporium Hamburg Prehistoric Life was a series of twelve coins, issued three-per-year over a four-year period from 2020-2023. Each issue came in three variants, with the primary one being the classic one-ounce silver bullion coin. The others were a coloured version of that, and a half-gram minigold struck to a proof finish. It was popular, no doubt due to a high level of design, and some great subject picks. In 2024, Emporium Hamburg embarked on a second series, called Prehistoric Life II, and it's a direct continuation, carrying over [...]

PREHISTORIC LIFE S1 (2020-2023) by Emporium Hamburg Never let it be said that we don't love a good dinosaur coin here, and that goes double for a keenly priced bullion coin. One of Emporium Hamburg's ranges, alongside the hugely popular Somali Elephant and others, Prehistoric Life debuted in 2020 with, of course, a coin depicting that biggest of dino stars, Tyrannosaurus Rex. The coin looked good, although like many bullion series, early renders were a little crude. Having seen the coin in hand, it's a fine piece. The design, on this and subsequent issues, [...]

STAR WARS: An overview of silver foils from Agoro/NZ Mint We've had a long-running Thematic Guide to the New Zealand Mint's (now Agoro) Star Wars franchise since it kicked off running in 2016. However, while we expected it to slow down over time, it's actually done no such thing, and we ended up with an article that just outgrew itself, to the point even editing it was painful, and it would bring the computer to a crawl. Clearly, we had to do something, and the first step we've taken is to remove all the silver [...]

LEGENDARY WARRIORS (2023-2026) by T&S Coin and Pinehurst Coins T & S Coin have quickly built up a fine reputation with their range of silver coins over the last couple of years. They're mainly known for their selection of two-ounce, high-relief, antique-finished coins, all designed in-house, and they cover subjects from mythology, history, and literature. They do have a small selection of their own warrior coins, but in conjunction with North Carolina based US dealer, Pinehurst Coins, their biggest endeavour to date is Legendary Warriors. This is a 15-coin series, each of which will feature [...]

TWO-OUNCE CAST SILVER BAR PROGRAMME (2024) by Germania Mint First appearing in early 2024, Germania Mint debuted a new two-ounce silver cast bar featuring some very striking artwork, and a set series length. Entitled simply 'Goddesses', it mined the rich vein that is Norse mythology for inspiration. It was a huge hit, if auction prices are any indicator. The mint started a programme allowing for other producers to have their own custom designs made in the same format, and while it's still new at the time of writing, it looks like it's going to [...]

THE MODERN MUSICAL WORLD: A multi-mint round-up of silver and gold coins Despite the prevalence of music in the modern world, there really hadn't been much interest in the numismatic world up until just a few short years ago. Ironically, it was headbangers AC/DC that sparked the modern renaissance, with both the Royal Australian Mint (the band hails from there), and CIT issuing coins for their anniversary in 2018. With licencing being as complex as it is, CIT soon moved onto Iron Maiden, leaving the RAM as the sole AC/DC producer, but it wasn't long [...]

DEADLY AND DANGEROUS (2006-) by the Perth Mint While a pretty standard specification for a Perth Mint series of coins, Deadly and Dangerous captured the imagination of collectors everywhere when the first coin debuted back in 2006. The main reason for this was the striking depiction of a Redback Spider gracing it. Australian wildlife has a deserved reputation for having a varied range of species seemingly dedicated to causing us pain, discomfort and death. A mix of venoms and sheer physical brutality marks out this menagerie of mayhem, so clearly a great subject for a series [...]

SILVER NIOBIUM (2003-) by the Austrian Mint A global innovation when launched almost a decade ago, these 25 euro silver niobium coins still combine state-of-the-art numismatic technology and first-rate aesthetic design. First issued in 2003, their silver outer ring and coloured niobium ‘pill’, which is attained by oxidation as opposed to the application of artificial colour, have provided the perfect backdrop for exploring suitably technological themes, from astronomy to aviation, robotics to renewable energy and electric light to television. Although as common as lead and even present in the human body, niobium was only discovered [...]

NATIONAL PARKS OF JAPAN 100TH ANNIVERSARY (2024-2031) by Japan Mint While not the most prolific, or adventurous of the issuers of national coinage, the Japan Mint has always done an exceptional job encapsulating Japanese culture and geography. Indeed, one of the first Coin Series Profiles we ever did was for their excellent '47 Prefectures' series, which ran from 2008-2016. The mint's latest series is very much in the same vein, but in this case, it's a 34-coin celebration of Japan's national park system, which will hit a century in age in 2031, when this [...]

THE GREAT GREEK MYTHOLOGY (2022-2025) by Mint XXI It’s fair to say the ancient world has been comprehensively mined for inspiration in the coin world, and with a standard of quality that’s sky-high. Such luminaries as CIT, Mint of Poland, Mint XXI, Numiscollect, and more, have issued some quite superb designs over the last few years, but equally, the genre has been blighted with many incomplete and abandoned series, ill-defined in scope, which leave collectors frustrated. However, Mint XXI has launched ‘The Great Greek Mythology’ series, consisting of an ambitious 36 coins, released over [...]