October, 2022
Latvian Bank 100th Anniversary silver coin (2022 Latvijas Banka)
Mik Woodgate2022-10-30T19:58:16+00:00October 30th, 2022|
Latvian Bank 100th Anniversary silver coin (2022 Latvijas Banka)
We don’t cover as much of the Eastern European coin world as we used to, and that’s going to change in 2023. Particularly in the Baltic States, there’s a recent trend of using heavily stylised designs to represent traditional ideas, and they’ve had their fair share of awards for their efforts. The latest coin from the Latvian national bank, Latvijas Banka, is called ‘Upward’ and is issued to celebrate the bank’s own 100th anniversary. They describe it thus –
“The authors of the graphic design of the “Upward” coin are artists Krista and Reinis Dzudzilo. The name of the coin in Latvian bears an association with an upward movement and a river. It also includes an allegory of overcoming gravity. A man also overcomes gravity when climbing upward, or else he would never see the mountain top. The obverse features nine steps with a smooth mirror surface set in relief, providing a glimpse of the eternal present and also the future, which is man himself. A human life is a journey. The upper step is a gold-plated segment of a circle bearing an association with the edge of a rising sun and visually resembling the logotype of Latvijas Banka. The reverse is gold-plated and frosted. It shines in gold like a precious sun fountain or a serene gold surface of a lake ready to quench our thirst.”
Okay, I’m the first to admit the description is a little pretentious, it’s just a bank after all, but the coin is gorgeous in its simplicity, and highly distinctive as a result. The combination of bold lines, stepped relief, and partial gilding, along with the ultra-clean, fully gilded obverse, makes for an attractive piece of numismatic design. The subject might not transition internationally, but who cares, as the coin certainly stands on its own merits. The mintage is set at 5,000 pieces, is struck by the Lithuanian Mint, and it will be available to buy from Tuesday 01 November.
Stained Glass Art: Sunflowers by Van Gogh silver coin (2022 Mint XXI)
Mik Woodgate2022-10-30T19:10:19+00:00October 30th, 2022|
Stained Glass Art: Sunflowers by Van Gogh silver coin (2022 Mint XXI)
Late last year, Mint XXI debuted a really inventive new take on Vincent Van Gogh’s seminal masterpiece, ‘Starry Night’. A popular choice to grace the face of a modern coin, ‘Starry Night’ is usually reproduced in full, or in part, but Mint XXI’s take was altogether more interesting. With the targetted use of high-relief, the work was reinterpreted in the style of stained=glass, an art form best associated with the huge medieval cathedrals that dot European towns and cities to this day.
Sticking with Vincent Van Gogh for the second issue, we now have ‘Sunflowers’, another iconic and much loved work. The treatment is equally effective, and it’s clear that Van Gogh’s unique style does indeed lend itself well to the transformation, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the mint return to his work for a third outing next year. The ‘stained=glassification’ wouldn’t work for all artistic styles. The common obverse from the first coin returns unchanged.
There’s a nice latex-skin floating frame that makes displaying this expansive 70 mm diameter coin easy, inside a themed slipcase, and the mintage of this two-ounce silver coin is capped at 500 pieces. Available to order now, it’s a fine follow-up to the launch coin.
House of the Dragon silver coin note (2022 MDM Wholesale)
Mik Woodgate2022-10-21T01:37:45+01:00October 21st, 2022|
House of the Dragon silver coin note (2022 MDM Wholesale)
Those of you enjoying the new HBO Game of Thrones prequel series, ‘House of the Dragon’ will no doubt wonder where all the coins are. Well, wonder no more, because talented German producer, MDM, have issued a new three-gram silver coin note for the show. Joining a series that spans most of the big fantasy epics, namely Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones, this is the fourth issue to date.
Coin notes, basically a silver foil in the size and shape of a banknote (150 x 70 mm), are relatively cheap, with high mintages (20,000, in this case), so are quite easy to pick up for the casual collector, attracted by the subject. The foil follows the style of those produced for the older franchises, being replete with gilded highlights and a border, surrounding a central element, in this case, appropriately enough, the head of a dragon. The obverse side is a common one to the series, and continues the aesthetic, but with the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II in place of the theming.
The presentation is simple, but attractive, consisting of a card sleeve. The foil itself is sealed in plastic, as they all are. A neat little offering, although we hope a show as visually exquisite as House of the Dragon will inspire MDM to move in a more ambitious direction for their next release. The coin world criminally under-served Game of Thrones, and we’d not like to see its offspring suffer the same fate.
Santa Claus silver PEZ set (2022 MTB/PAMP)
Mik Woodgate2022-10-20T20:55:04+01:00October 20th, 2022|
Santa Claus silver PEZ set (2022 MTB/PAMP)
Still ticking along, MTB-PAMP’s neat little silver PEZ homage continues with a seventh release, the fourth of them themed for the Christmas holiday. The PEZ candy market remains huge, and collecting the plastic dispensers is a market all of its own, so a bullion product tapping into that was always a good idea, since continued with Bazooka Joe bubblegum, and Sweethearts.
What PAMP have done is run with the concept of a custom dispenser, made their silver pill match the size of the original candy, and customised the latter with a unique privy mark. These aren’t coins, of course, and value-wise they miss the stacker market, but make a terrific collectible in the same way the original product was.
As with every prior set, the dispenser is packed in with six, five-gram silver pills, so just shy of a troy ounce in total. Not a release for everyone, perhaps, but certainly one with enough fans to snap up the 4,000 mintage every time. Check out our Coin Series Profile for a look at the range to date. We may expand that one to cover the other sweet releases, like the aforementioned Sweethearts and Bazooka.
LINKS: AgAuNEWS Coin Series Profile to PEZ
Robert Lewandowski proof gold coins (2022 Mint of Gdansk)
Mik Woodgate2022-10-13T14:38:40+01:00October 13th, 2022|
Robert Lewandowski proof gold coins (2022 Mint of Gdansk)
The Mint of Gdańsk launched its new seven-year, 56-coin programme featuring the Polish football legend Robert Lewandowski, just a few months ago, with a pair of silver coins, and the promise of a more varied selection moving forward. That promise is now bearing results, with a new design adorning a coin available in both one-ounce, and tenth-ounce formats.
The coin depicts Lewandowski in three poses, and at different stages in his career. All the figures are enmeshed in a ‘splintered glass’ pattern meant to signify breaking the walls in his career. It’s a nice mash-up, if a little overly busy. The obverse carries the national coat-of-arms of Niue at its centre, around which are lines suggesting the pattern of panels on a football.
Both versions will come boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity, with the larger coin having a mintage of 200 pieces, and the smaller variant, 1,000 units. A good addition to the new series, and there’s more to come, with the silver coin statues looking particularly interesting. Available now.
Growing Up: Lions 5 oz edition (2022 Numiscollect)
Mik Woodgate2022-10-05T12:49:52+01:00October 5th, 2022|
Growing Up: Lions 5 oz edition (2022 Numiscollect)
A new series that debuted at the 2021 World Money Fair in Berlin, ‘Growing Up’ was a neat concept, displaying an animal as a fully grown adult on the reverse face, and in younger form on the obverse. We’ve always preferred coins that employ both faces to their full potential, and this was one of those. That debut coin featured the lion, showing us an impressive male in portrait form on the reverse. There’s a lioness in line form in the background. The obverse carries a natural scene of a cub drinking from a pond. The reflected adult is beautifully done. Even the coin issue details are reflected.
That coin was a 45 mm diameter, two-ounce piece, and what we have here is a five-ounce variant. Outside the obviously greater denomination, the design is identical in every way. It has the Black Proof finish on the reverse face as before, and the clean proof finish on the obverse, creating a nice contrast. To be honest, this was a fine coin on release, which is now sold out at the mint, so a good opportunity to pick it up in a bigger, more impressive format, although at a higher cost, of course. However, just 149 pieces of this 65 mm diameter coin will be struck, and it already seems to be going fast. Hopefully, we’ll see the 2022 Stallion design return in 2023 at five ounces.
September, 2022
Women in History – Boudicca silver coin (2022 New Zealand Mint)
Mik Woodgate2022-09-23T00:02:11+01:00September 22nd, 2022|
Women in History - Boudicca silver coin (2022 New Zealand Mint)
In a nice change from the tsunami of popular culture coins it produces, the New Zealand Mint debuted a series in May, of one-ounce coloured silver coins, called Women in History. The first of them was a literal giant of the scientific world – the double Nobel Prize winning physicist, Marie Curie. A great first subject, but women’s contribution to civilisation isn’t just in the world of science, but also in war.
Boudicca was a first century Celtic queen, specifically of the Iceni tribe in Briton, who led her people in an attempt to overthrow the Roman occupiers. Her husband was an ally of Rome, but on his death, he left his kingdom jointly to his daughters, and to Rome. But typically, Rome just annexed the land, flogging Boudicca and raping her daughters. Understandably, she initiated an uprising, brutally rampaging through the south-east, and levelling both Colchester, and London. She was defeated by a smaller, but more disciplined Roman force, allegedly committing suicide soon after. She remains a British icon to this day.
A nice image of Boudicca adorns the reverse, flame-haired, and wearing the blue wode dye on her face. In the background is a scene from before her fateful battle, where she is depicted on a chariot, dressed in garb associated to her by the Victorians, and similar to that of many national personifications today. Packaging is excellent, and the 2,000 mintage seems sensible. An interesting series, and one that seems to be spreading its net wide for subjects. Available from today.
LINKS: NEW ZEALAND MINT
Prehistoric Life: Liopleurodon bullion coins (2022 Emporium Hamburg)
Mik Woodgate2022-09-22T21:34:28+01:00September 22nd, 2022|
Prehistoric Life: Liopleurodon bullion coins (2022 Emporium Hamburg)
Liopleurodon first gained fame with its depiction in the smash-hit BBC documentary series, Walking With Dinosaurs. Here, it was a supergiant marine reptile, casually hunting plesiosaurs like they were light snacks. Brought to life via a flawed analysis of the fossil evidence, the truth is, it was far smaller than the 25 m long, 100+ tonne behemoth they’d created. However, smaller, doesn’t equate to small, and it was still a hugely impressive apex predator, possibly attaining 10 metres in length, and exceeding 3 tonnes in weight. In other words, a great subject for Emporium Hamburg’s excellent Prehistoric Life bullion series.
Launching in 2020, this is a 12-coin, four-year program, with each design available in 1 oz silver, and 0.5 gram minigold, with the former also produced in a rarer, coloured form. We like this design, far more than the earlier Plesiosaurus one, it’s less formal and more dynamic. The colour one looks great if you prefer to go the semi-numismatic route, and the minigold appears to hold a significant amount of detail for its 11 mm diameter. These are obviously renders, but we’re pleased to say that previous issues look far better in hand.
These are available to buy now, and the final 2022, issue (there are still three to come in 2023), the Parasaurolophus, is just beginning to trickle out, and we’ll cover it next week in an overdue bullion coin round-up. The silver has a mintage of 10,000 pieces in bullion form, and 2,000 pieces in coloured form, while the minigold tops out at the same 2,000 pieces.
If you like coins of this subject, check out our profile of this series, and keep your eyes open for our also overdue Superguide to prehistoric coins.
Wallal Centenary Australia Tests Einstein’s Theory silver coin (2022 Royal Australian Mint)
Mik Woodgate2022-09-21T21:26:28+01:00September 21st, 2022|
Wallal Centenary Australia Tests Einstein's Theory silver coin (2022 Royal Australian Mint)
Albert Einstein was a giant in the scientific community, and his Theory of General Relativity was probably his greatest work. Ten years earlier, in 1905, he published a paper linking space and time, called Special Relativity. General Relativity expanded on it by incorporating gravity, saying the observed gravitational effect between masses is the result of their warping of spacetime. Einstein wasn’t fallible, and this was cutting edge science, so the challenge became how to prove its viability.
On September 21, 1922, there was a total eclipse of the sun, and two expeditions set out to use it to prove General Relativity. One of them, in Wallal, Western Australia, successfully used photographs of the eclipse to precisely measure the positions of the bodies, indicating that indeed, Einstein was right. It was called the Wallal Expedition, and the RAM’s new coin celebrates its centenary.
The RAM has a fairly long association with domed coins, arguably popularising the format with its Southern Sky, and subsequent series of astronomy themed issues. After a quiet spell, they’re back with this one-ounce proof silver coin, depicting a stylised Earth and Moon sitting in the centre of a gravitational warp, with the Sun in the background. Simple, yet very effective, it does a great job of giving us a hint of this complex theory on a single coin. The concave nature of the reverse face enhances the effect. The convex obverse depicts the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. It comes boxed with a COA, and is available now for $130.00 AUD
Blue Marble Planet Earth 3 oz domed silver coin (2022 LPM)
Mik Woodgate2022-09-20T20:51:09+01:00September 20th, 2022|
Blue Marble Planet Earth 3 oz domed silver coin (2022 LPM)
Blue Marble is the name given to one of the most iconic photographs in history. Taken on the Apollo 17 mission from an altitude of 29,000 km, the picture depicts our home in all its limitless beauty. It remains one of the most reproduced images of all time.
Back in February, Hong Kong dealer, LPM, released a coin using this image. A domed one-ounce silver coin, it’s now been joined by a bigger three-ounce variant. Exactly the same design, on both faces (except for the obvious change in denomination), we are treated to an increase in diameter from 40 mm, to a more planetary 55 mm. It maintains the domed nature of the smaller coin, concave on the reverse, and concave on the obverse. The coin comes boxed, of course, and has a mintage of just 317 pieces. Available now.
Moon Puzzle silver coin (2023 Precious Metal Collectors)
Mik Woodgate2022-09-15T20:57:00+01:00September 15th, 2022|
Moon Puzzle silver coin (2023 Precious Metal Collectors)
Precious Metal Collectors have added a second coin to their planetary take on puzzle coins, with the Moon. This joins the earlier ‘Earth’ puzzle coin, which we covered in April, along with a couple of the mints other space-orientated issues. This is a chunky, 60 mm diameter coin of just one-ounce weight. It’s silver, so as many of you may have guessed, this is a coin using PMC’s clever Bi-Metal Max technique, which uses that silver to envelope a much heavier core of fine copper, in this case, 4.5 ounces of it. Remarkably, this is a small Bi-Metal Max coin, with many having a core of over 33 ounces.
The style is very similar to that pioneered by Powercoin with its art-themed series, although those were solid silver, and took three times as much metal to reach a similar size. Basically, take an image, and strike it with the impression of jigsaw puzzle pieces. Usually, this is done with the puzzle partly incomplete, and with those odd pieces scattered around the unfinished area. A simple idea, but quite effective. Some of the detail is a little lost because of the monochromatic nature of the moon, but we’re being petty here.
The obverse continues the puzzle piece background, but carrying the coat-of-arms of the African state, Chad. It’s a particularly nice touch. The coin will come presented in a themed box with a Certificate of Authenticity. The mintage is set at 688 pieces, and it’s available to order now.
Caribbean Sealife – Barbados Octopus gold and silver bullion coin (2022 APMEX)
Mik Woodgate2022-09-15T14:06:01+01:00September 15th, 2022|
Caribbean Sealife - Barbados Octopus gold and silver bullion coin (2022 APMEX)
APMEX has debuted the latest in its Caribbean range of silver and gold bullion coins, this time featuring an octopus. ‘Caribbean Silver’ is an unusual series, consisting of several subseries, each themed around a single animal. The Seahorse was the first, now on its fifth annual release, and it was followed by the Brown Pelican, national bird of Barbados, which is on its third. The octopus was the third animal to feature, and this is the second one of those.
The three subseries follow some common elements, sharing an obverse and a reverse border style. They all seem to enjoy a good standard of design when it comes to the subject animal as well, although styles vary a little more here, from the lightly stylised, to the natural setting. The 2022 Octopus coin is very much in the naturalised camp, with a great piece of art showing these incredibly fascinating creatures off in their best light. We particularly like the floating inscription ring, with the tentacles flowing both in front of, and behind it.
There’s a one-ounce silver and a one-ounce gold on offer, both with very small mintages. The silver tops out at just 7,000 pieces, while the gold hits only 100. The former is supplied encapsulated, while the latter is boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity. Available now.
LINKS: APMEX
Lunar Dragon Egg (2024 MDM Wholesale)
Mik Woodgate2022-09-02T15:42:11+01:00September 2nd, 2022|
Lunar Dragon Egg (2024 MDM Wholesale)
We’ve repeatedly commented on the ever earlier launch of lunar coins, often appearing up to a year before the actual change date, but the Year of the Dragon seems to exacerbate that even further. Probably the most popular of the lunar animals, it next comes around in early 2024 – yes, that’s right, 2024 – but we’ve already seen several issues, and expect to see more.
The latest is this pretty coin from German producer, MDM, one with a good presence in the pop-culture genre, but who mainly specialises in the more innovative end of the market, with some impressive issues. Dragon Egg is an oval-shaped coin struck with five-ounces of fine silver. It’s big, at 50.0 x 70.0 mm, yet still exhibits good levels of high relief. It’s nicely done, with the shell forming a variably-sized, non-continuous frame for the emerging dragon. It’s visibly an Asian-style creature, unencumbered by inscribed text distractions.
The obverse is fully themed as well, with a terrific dragon depicted in a style reminiscent of the old Chinese watercolour art. The issue details for this Djibouti release are ring-fenced in a circular area, and are quite unobtrusive. Great to see an obverse good enough to be the main face, and the antique finish suits it perfectly. Available to order shortly, it comes nicely boxed, and has a mintage of 488. A bit early for a Lunar Dragon coin, but hard to complain too much when it’s well done.
August, 2022
Quokka 1 oz silver bullion coin (2022 Perth Mint)
Mik Woodgate2022-08-19T13:53:45+01:00August 19th, 2022|
Quokka 1 oz silver bullion coin (2022 Perth Mint)
One of the Perth Mint’s many nature-themed bullion coin series, the Quokka, which depicts a small marsupial native to Western Australia, is now on its third release with the debut of the 2022 coin. These are neat little coins, very much in the Perth Mint style, and this year’s looks to be a good one, replete with some habitat to give the pair of quokkas some context.
The range consists of just a single format, a one-ounce 0.9999 silver coin, with a 40.9 mm diameter, and a 30,000 mintage. Perth Mint bullion coins are hugely popular, especially those with animals on them, and this looks to be a good design. Be sure to check out our comprehensive guide to all of them at the link below. Available now.
LINKS: Our guide to the Perth Mint bullion coins
Flower Garden 1 oz silver coin (2022 Coins Today)
Mik Woodgate2022-08-19T12:32:42+01:00August 19th, 2022|
Flower Garden 1 oz silver coin (2022 Coins Today)
Producers of what we think are probably the most attractive bullion releases for many years, South Korean company, Coins Today also dabble in the proof collectible coin arena as well. Their latest is one simply titled ‘Flower Dance’, and one quick look at the images will tell you why. The reverse face depicts a ballerina, her tutu cleverly shown in the form of a flower that is tied in with the floral border. Picked out in vibrant colour, it brings the two elements together attractively. There’s certainly nothing to criticise with regard to the figure’s anatomy, or the flora, and the composition is excellent.
The obverse eschews the dancer (unless Queen Liz is doing it in her spare time!), and goes with a different, simpler floral border, with all the plant-life fully coloured. The flowers lack the detail and elegance of the reverse face, but frame the effigy very well, even passing over the border between the two zones to increase the illusion of depth.
This is a one-ounce coin of 40 mm diameter, that is presented in a latex-skin floating frame with a custom insert. Just 555 will be minted, and it should be available to order now. A nice change from their usual output, but we’ll be back to that on Monday with a new stacker release, so look forward to that.
