While Nintendo had its Italian plumber, Mario, Sega debuted a considerably more glitzy and fast-paced character with Sonic the Hedgehog. While lacking the depth of Mario, we didn’t care, as it had, for its time, stunning graphics and fun gameplay. It’s of little surprise that it’s still a cultural icon some 30 years later. APMEX noticed, and Sonic is joining Tetris and Pacman with a new range of celebratory coins.

This is a silver range, comprising a bullion coin with a classic Sonic pose, as well as a proof version of the same design. There are 30,000 of the one ounce bullion coins, and a tiny 300 of the proof. The latter is presented in a box with a COA, while the former is sold either encapsulated, or in one of the APMEX TEP slabs.. Also available are four coloured bullion coins with unique designs, featuring Sonic, and three other characters from the franchise, each with a 3,000 mintage. They sell for $5 more than a similarly slabbed basic Sonic coin, but aren’t as cool in my opinion.

Added later were four bullion rounds, all brightly coloured on both sides (the obverse is common to all four). They have an uncapped mintage.

As someone who bought an import Sega Megadrive on release, and this super game when it came out, Sonic has a special place, and this is, by far, the nicest Sonic coin we’ve seen to date. It perfectly encapsulates everything about the character, so much so, that the logo almost seems superfluous.

The obverse is brilliant as well, having a playfield from the game wrapped around the border, including the signature rings. We have to say, we’re very impressed with this one.

This group of coins feature another absolute classic of the early arcades – Galaga. The vertically scrolling shooter was a huge hit, and it’s now celebrating its 40th anniversary. This game brings memories flooding back, and was part of a genre that started with Space Invaders, and continues with legends like Defender and Zaxxon.

As before, there are gold and silver bullion variants, and on the (semi) numismatic side there are a pair of silver coins. The first is a proof version of the bullion design, complete with box and certificate. The second is a coloured coin, with an uncirculated finish. This one carries a design that pulls many elements from the base coin, but has been heavily tweaked with a gaudy, early-80’s pixel look. All have the same Niue emblem obverse and all are available now. Mintages are way down, making this particularly attractive.

The core coin is a silver bullion piece, issued for Niue, and with a 10,000 unit mintage. It depicts an image of St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square, alluding to the game’s Russian origins, as well as the Tetris logo. The obverse carries the Niue emblem, rather than the more common effigy of QEII, but there’s a neat block motif at the top as a nod to the theme.

As well as the silver bullion variant, there’s also one that is coloured in an almost ‘8-bit’ computer graphics style. This has a mintage of 3,700 pieces and comes slabbed, but ungraded – a decorative thing that looks pretty good. A gold version, also an ounce in weight, comes in a themed tin with a Certificate of Authenticity, much like the proof silver version. Rounding out the range is a pair of undenominated, double-faced one-ounce silver rounds. Each has a coloured image on both the reverse and obverse faces and depicts elements of the game in actual, or inspired-by forms. These also come pre-slabbed and have an unlimited mintage.

A series of seven coins, each taking the shape of one of the Tetriminos in the game, each piece weighs a troy ounce, and is limited to a mintage of 10,000 pieces. All are actual coins, issued for Niue, and not just rounds, as with so many of APMEX’s videogame releases.

As well as the clean range, there’s also a coloured range, also with a 10,000 mintage, and also encapsulated, but unboxed. However, in addition to the base coins, there are also 250 sets of seven, which come presented in a pretty cool acrylic frame, dressed up to look like the game. It’s quite pricey, but quite a unique item.

US coin dealer APMEX issued, for Niue, a range of silver and gold coins to mark the 40th anniversary of this most iconic of titles. Designed by 25-year-old Toru Iwatani, with limited programming knowledge, it was Namco’s attempt to fight the growing influence of Taito’s Space Invaders, which it did very successfully. It remains hugely popular to this day.

It isn’t difficult to do a Pac-Man coin, of course. Simple, strong characters and playing field lend themselves well to the limited canvas on a coin, and these coins pick the characters we know best to showcase the game. There are three basic variants in the range. The fourth coin is also a 1 oz silver issue, but has a unique colour design on the reverse, quite different from the others. This isn’t being sold as a full-on numismatic, but rather as a niche coloured bullion coin, complete with a 4,000 mintage and slabbed packaging. All coins in the range are issued for Niue, but eschew the usual effigy of Queen Elizabeth II for the national coat-of-arms.

This release is a little more unusual than the first one. It isn’t only a rare shaped bullion coin, but it’s also a stackable one. Instead of just taking the ultra-iconic design of PAC-MAN for its style, they’ve actually gone a step further in making it in ‘pixelated’ form. The shape we see as a modified circle on the arcade screen is actually made up of pixels, in this case a grid of 13 by 12 of them, which can look coarse when viewed closely enough.

APMEX have cleverly replicated this on the design, forming the shape on a grid 13 squares high by 12 wide. The rim edge is low on the reverse face and high on the obverse, and done in such a way that the coins stack together. It’s hardly the most ambitious of stackable elements, but it does tie in with the simplistic subject matter, and so does the job as intended.

A clever follow-up to the Pac-Man shaped coin range, the ‘Ghost’ range is based on the game’s antagonist. The proof coins ape the look of the game’s four ghosts, and come packaged in a tin with a themed slipcase. The stackable bullion variant is simply encapsulated, although the tubes you can bulk buy them in are pretty cool. The 2021 proof, coloured Pac-Man coin returns with nothing but a new date. Like the arcade game ghost, the coin is designed on a 14 x 14 ‘pixel’ grid.

A simple pair again, utilising the same obverse as the 2022 Niue issues, ‘Maze’ is a more expansive look at the game, modded to fit a circular canvas. These are two-ounces in weight, however, and have quite limited mintages, especially in coloured form, which also comes boxed with a C.O.A.

They do throw in some of the less well known arcade machines, and their latest is a personal favourite – Dig-Dug. This classic game still turns up occasionally on some of the newer handheld consoles, or on emulators, and is well worth tracking down.

It’s the game’s 40th anniversary, making me feel ancient, and the coin captures all the elements of the game perfectly, including the hero, his pump weapon making short work of a Pooka, while a Fygar looks on. Don’t blame me, I didn’t name them… The usual mix of silver (coloured and uncoloured), along with proof gold and silver, making up the range.

The follow on from the APMEX Pac-Man coin celebrating that legendary arcade character’s 40th anniversary, Ms Pac-Man is also now celebrating hitting her midlife crisis by popping pills (no way she’s getting Covid!!!). Considered to be a better game than the original on its release on January 13th 1982, it’s a classic from a simpler time, so different from the money-grabbing, lootbox-laden business we have today.

APMEX have based the release around a design showcasing the anniversary logo, and at its core is a brilliant uncirculated silver bullion version with a 25,000 mintage. There’s a proof silver version of the same coin, and a gold bullion one as well, but all share the same DNA. Rounding out the four-coin range is a coloured silver bullion variant packaged in a sealed acrylic slab. This one is a little different in having a coloured maze fill the background field. The silver proof, and the gold coin are presented in themed tins.

The follow on from the APMEX Pac-Man coin celebrating that legendary arcade character’s 40th anniversary, Ms Pac-Man is also now celebrating hitting her midlife crisis by popping pills (no way she’s getting Covid!!!). Considered to be a better game than the original on its release on January 13th 1982, it’s a classic from a simpler time, so different from the money-grabbing, lootbox-laden business we have today.

APMEX have based the release around a design showcasing the anniversary logo, and at its core is a brilliant uncirculated silver bullion version with a 25,000 mintage. There’s a proof silver version of the same coin, and a gold bullion one as well, but all share the same DNA. Rounding out the four-coin range is a coloured silver bullion variant packaged in a sealed acrylic slab. This one is a little different in having a coloured maze fill the background field. The silver proof, and the gold coin are presented in themed tins.

After Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Galaga, APMEX have cycled back to Pac-Man with its latest range of videogame-inspired bullion rounds. There are three, one-ounce offerings this time, all coloured on both faces, and all presented in their slab-like, TEP capsules. You’ll either love these or hate them. They’re certainly right on point for the subject, with some great artwork from the early days of the arcades.

The latest video-game inspired bullion round from APMEX represents a jump forward in time from the earlier classics, to a more modern example. Assassin’s Creed is a juggernaut in the gaming world, already having made the jump to films and more, and has a rich and varied visual appeal. The round has a silhouette portrait of the central character of the early games, complete with the logo at its centre. The obverse side also carries the logo prominently, over which is jumping, in a parkour way, three assassins. A motto from the games is inscribed near the edge.

As well as that, there’s a design called ‘Altair’, which comes in silver proof, gold proof, and silver coloured variants. Easily our favourite of the range. They all have the same obverse as the base round. In addition, there are three coloured rounds with different designs on them. All do a good job of showcasing the extremely popular game franchise,