TEXTURED FINE ART RANGES (2017) by Powercoin Much admired on its debut, especially by us here at AgAuNEWS, Powercoin's first Great Micromosaic Passion coin did something different with the generally conservative fine-art genre. The use of a cleanly defined texture to impart a unique look has lifted the often stale procession of masterpieces coins we usually get, and to great effect. They followed the success of the series with a companion range turning artworks into jigsaw puzzles, which turned out to be equally popular. Recently, we've seen the mosaic series kick-off a second series, [...]

PEZ COLLECTION (2019-) by MTB/PAMP Certainly one of the more inventive candy products released over the last century, PEZ has spawned an entire worldwide collector's market because of the way it is sold and used. With most other sweets, you buy it, you eat it. Simples, to quote a meerkat. Not so with PEZ. The candy is simple enough, just small blocky hard sweets sold in a packet. But then you put them in a plastic dispenser that, when you push the head, releases one for you to eat. The clever part comes with the [...]

THE ENDURING SOLDIERS (2017) by National Bank of Poland Not being afraid to produce long running coin series, the excellent Stanislaw August and History of Polish Coin series being evidence of that, the National Bank of Poland (Narodowy Bank Polski NBP) has embarked on another epic set of silver coins. With tensions higher than normal between Poland and Russia over the Ukrainian conflict, it seems that they felt it was time for a reminder of why there exists such distrust between the two countries on many levels. This series celebrates and remembers some of the [...]

MANDALA ART (2015-2024) by Art Mint Launched in 2015, Art Mint's Mandala Art series has continued with a single annual release ever since, growing in sophistication and ambition as time has passed. The series has taken the concept of the mandala, a geometric pattern of squares and/or triangles in a concentric pattern, and applied it to a selection of world cultures, expanding it out from the Sanskrit origins it's most closely associated with. In truth, the mandala style is an ancient one with use throughout history and with a geographically diverse distribution, from Mesoamerica to the [...]

COCA-COLA BOTTLE CAPS (2018-) by Crown Mint One of the most iconic brands in history, Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a simple carbonated soft drink invented in the late 19th century. Named after kola nuts and coca leaves, a couple of the original ingredients, Coca-Cola was bought from its inventor John Pemberton, by Asa Griggs Candler, who, through some impressive marketing, turned it into a world dominating product. In 2015, Coca-Cola was said to be the world’s third-most valuable brand, behind Apple and Google, and in 2013 their products were served up in over 200 countries [...]

BRITISH MONARCHS (2022-2023) by The Royal Mint This is one of those releases we always look forward to. The Royal Mint has produced this multi-year programme of coins tapping into Britain’s rich history, in the same vein as recent numismatic hits like the Queen’s Beasts, the Tudor Beasts, and the Great Engravers series. They almost always exhibit sky-high standards of design and execution, and this five-year, 21-coin series, looks to be no exception. Called the ‘British Monarchs Collection’, it will span the Royal Houses of Tudor, Stuart, Hanover, and finally the current mob, Saxe-Coburg, Gotha & Windsor. [...]

FAMOUS HISTORICAL BUSTS (2022) by Precious Metal Collectors We were extremely impressed when Precious Metal Collectors, most widely known for their silver over copper 'Bi-Metal Max' issues, debuted a new two-ounce silver coin in the shape of Abraham Lincoln. Eschewing any trickery, this was a solid silver coin, issued for the Republic of Chad, that was simply antique-finished. The star of the show was the incredible job that had been done, bringing a two-dimensional representation of a person into a three-dimensional piece of silver. We suspect the coin was released to test market reaction, and [...]

2020+ CHIBI COLLECTION by the New Zealand Mint A phenomenon that has travelled far from its Japanese homeland, Chibi (ちび or チビ) is slang for 'short' and is applied to various pop culture genres today. Chief amongst those are the small, chubby caricatures with their tiny bodies and over-sized heads – also called super-deformed (SD). A popular style in anime and manga, and also with the Funko figures that are seemingly everywhere these days, we’re actually surprised the concept has taken this long to hit the numismatic world. If anyone was going to do [...]

2013-2023 TREASURES OF STANISLAW AUGUST by Narodowy Bank Issued by the National Bank Of Poland (NBP), also known as the Narodowy Bank, Treasures of Stanislaw August is a rare gem along the lines of the Monnaie de Paris' superlative From Clovis to Republic series. Whereas that series took a modern designer, Christian Lacroix, and reinterpreted the styles of history for a modern, themed look, this series is firmly rooted in a historical source. The last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was Stanislaw August Poniatowski, and around 1790 he instructed a pair of talented medallists, Jan Filip [...]

MOMENTS OF LOVE (2019-2026) by Mint XXI It isn't often we see a subject like sex featured in its own coin series. Hinted at perhaps, but not front and centre (no pun intended...). If you're going to do it respectfully, then showcase the classic text on the subject, the Indian work, Kama Sutra. This is an ancient text, tracing its roots back well over 2,000 years, and sets out the ways to garner maximum pleasure from the act of procreation. Mint XXI is no stranger to nudity on its coins, offering some superb examples [...]