Powercoin debuts their new industrial proof finish with a striking silver coin inspired by the Deaths-Head Moth

A surprise new release from Powercoin, IN GIRUM IMUS NOCTE isn’t part of a new series, but a one-off with a cool design and, we suspect, is more about the debut of the new finish used. Called ‘Industrial Proof’, it looks terrific, in our view, a kind of scorched, super-heated metal look. In addition, the application will be subtly different on every coin, not the same as with almost every other finish, and covers both faces, as well as the edge.

The design is unusual, featuring a Deaths-Head moth with an exaggerated skull on its back, almost Hannibal Lector movie inspired. Surrounding the moth is an inscription that reads ‘in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni’, the Latin translation of ‘we go round and round in the night and are consumed by fire’. That sounds like the perfect reference to the life of a moth. The teachers pets amongst you might also have noticed the Latin phrase is a palindrome, one that reads the same both forwards and backwards.

The obverse depicts the underside of the moth, you can see the legs under the wings, for example, along with the same dual inscriptions showing off their palindromic nature. The shield emblem of the Republic of Palau is placed above the moth, with the issue inscriptions, done in a style that looks almost stamped into the coin dogtag-like, placed below it.

The coin comes in one of those floating frames, where the coin is suspended between two latex skins, and has a nice insert, which is likely also doing duty as the Certificate of Authenticity. The mintage is capped at 500 pieces, typical for a three-ounce coin, and is available to order now. An interesting release, and we’d have to consider the initial use of this industrial proof finish to be a success. It will be interesting to see where they go with it next.