2019 HARRY POTTER: HOGWARTS HOUSES by New Zealand Mint Following the Crown Mint's launch of its new eight-coin series of Harry Potter character coins, it came as a surprise to learn that the New Zealand Mint were also to debut a whole range of similarly themed issues. We've noticed the spread of media franchises in the numismatic world is often convoluted, so I guess we really shouldn't be so nonplussed. The NZ Mint has taken a clever approach to the licence with a beautifully artistic set of four, five-gram silver foils that feature the heraldry of the [...]

2019 INVENTIONS OF LEONARDO by the Czech Mint Renaissance genius Leonardo Da Vinci is no stranger to the coin world and it’s easy to see why. A huge body of incredible artwork and astounding inventions are a veritable visual feast and make splendid numismatics. To date, the vast majority of coins featuring the mans work have stayed firmly in the artistic sphere, but the Czech Mint have chosen to showcase Da Vinci’s engineering skills, especially in works that led to advances in warfighting. Designed by Asamat Baltaev, the medal maker responsible for the beautiful Jules [...]

2019 MAGIC THE GATHERING by New Zealand Mint The selection of subjects appearing on the relatively new silver foil format continues to increase with the arrival of cult card game Magic the Gathering. The New Zealand Mint has previously issued two 1oz silver coins, with a considerable gap between them, but neither seem to have set the market on fire with their popularity. Given the game is all about images on cards, perhaps the mint will have more success with the cheaper and more appealing banknote-style foils. Of the mints three main silver foil [...]

2019 STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION by New Zealand Mint Another of the New Zealand Mint's many silver foil series featuring their numerous licenced media franchises, Star Trek Next Generation has itself appeared previously on a pretty neat Juan Ortiz penned 'poster' set, but the set we're looking at here is a sequel to the Star Trek Original Series character foils released a last year.Each of the five-gram, 150 x 70 mm silver foils is in a banknote ratio format, and carries a common obverse (these are denominated as a coin, unlike some other foils, even from [...]

2018-2020 STAR WARS MOVIE POSTER FOILS by the New Zealand Mint There’s no doubt that the New Zealand Mint are now the biggest proponents of the fledgling silver foil format. It could be argued that the format was first popularised by the European producer CIT Coin Invest, but the NZ Mint have the biggest selection on offer at the moment. Relatively cheap to design and produce, mints are more likely to take a chance with releasing a foil instead of a coin as the risks are less. Star Wars issued can't really be considered a [...]

2019 BATMAN VILLAINS SILVER FOILS by the New Zealand Mint 2018 was a busy year for the New Zealand Mint as they continued to popularise the silver foil with a whole swathe of variously sized designs. They’ve obviously had some success with the relatively new type of coin as 2019 has seen the selection expand further. We can now add Batman Villains to the list. The mint has three formats in general use. One apes the dimensions of a banknote (5g, 150 x 70 mm), another called ‘Premium Format’ weighs 35 grams (262 x [...]

2018 FANTASTIC WORLDS OF JULES VERNE by Czech Mint The French novelist Jules Verne (8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) is the second-most translated author of the last 50 years, just behind Agatha Christie and it's easy to see why. The sense of spectacle and wonder weaved in his novels has near universal appeal - appearing in countless adaptations from the early age of moving pictures through to the 21st century. As a literary world full of wonder, Jules Vernes work is a perfect subject for a coin series. The Czech Mint launched a [...]

2018 STAR TREK MOVIE POSTER PREMIUM FOILS by the New Zealand Mint Quickly following on from their Star Wars Posters range of premium foils, the surprising addition of Star Trek to the mix was a welcome addition. Tracking who owns what licence these days has become increasingly difficult. Trek used to be the sole preserve of the Perth Mint, but then coins began to be issued by the Royal Canadian Mint as well. The New Zealand Mint has so far limited its exposure to the franchise to a selection of foils only, with the Original [...]

2017-2018 BATTLES THAT CHANGED HISTORY by the New Zealand Mint Completely inspired by the earlier 2016 debuting series called Warriors of History, this latest range of coins from the New Zealand Mint has shifted sideways a little by portraying the battles that have made important changes to the directions of world history, often in hindsight even if not at the time, rather than the massed combatants that fought them. It's a fine idea for a companion series to the popular Warriors coins and called simply Battles That Changed History. Each one-ounce silver coin is again, [...]

2018 JUSTICE LEAGUE MOVIE by New Zealand Mint It isn’t just Star Trek and Star Wars that is getting the coin note treatment. The New Zealand Mint has released a set of six Justice League coins, each based on a character from the blockbuster DC Comics Universe movie. The characters featured are all members of the Justice League and encompass Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg and Superman. The second most expensive movie ever made, it has debuted to mixed reviews but is generally a fun romp with a mix of decent acting and poor [...]