March, 2022
Biblical Series 42 The Transfiguration of Jesus silver coin (2021 Scottsdale Mint)
Mik Woodgate2022-03-03T21:31:32+00:00March 3rd, 2022|
Biblical Series 42 The Transfiguration of Jesus silver coin (2021 Scottsdale Mint)
After a long Covid-induced delay, Scottsdale finally round out the 2021 schedule of its ten-year, sixty-coin Biblical Series of two-ounce silver coins. We’ve covered all of these to date, as we do get a good few questions about their availability, so if you want to know more about the other 41 coins released to date, feel free to head on over there for a full overview.
The 42nd coin is called ‘The Transfiguration of Jesus’ which alludes to a Biblical event where Jesus, Peter, Paul, and James pray on a mountain, and Jesus starts shining with rays of light, whereupon Moses and Elijah appear and converse with him. I’m sure Christians will know the story better already. As always, the coin is a cropped reproduction of one of Gustave Dore’s much-admired woodcuts, and a good one at that. If you’re going to do a series like this, quality source material is essential, and Scottsdale’s series has had no problems on that score.
We guess the 2022 run of six coins will start soon, and no doubt Scottsdale Mint will do what they can to catch up to the original release schedule. There are just three years to go, and I have to admit to not thinking a series this ambitious would get this far, especially in light of their cancelled Vikings series, but kudos to them for sticking with what is obviously a popular, and very well produced coin range. It should ship in 2-3 weeks, and has promotional pricing for the first month, we believe.
LINKS: AgAuNEWS COIN SERIES PROFILE
Urban Hunters – Falcon 3oz silver coin (2022 AllCollect)
Mik Woodgate2022-03-03T14:59:43+00:00March 3rd, 2022|
Urban Hunters - Falcon 3oz silver coin (2022 AllCollect)
A great idea for a coin series, Urban Hunters will take a look at some of the predators that have made the metropolis their hunting grounds. It’s incredible how well some creatures have adapted to human habitats, and the soaring structures of man’s cities are an ideal place for a falcon to carve itself out a profitable niche, with plenty of nesting places, and most importantly of all, plenty of prey.
This new three-ounce silver coin from German producer, AllCollect, depicts a falcon flying over what could be a medieval scene, with a great cathedral in the background, except for the hint of modern buildings to the right of it. The coin is designed by the Belgian medal-maker P.De Greef, a long-standing medal sculptor that AllCollect have employed to design some fine coins before. You can see from the finished article that this isn’t the product of CAD or other digital artistry, but rather the traditional hand-sculpted methods of old, with a very distinctive look of its own.
The coin is issued for the Republic of Benin, a small West African nation, and has their coat-of-arms on the obverse. The three-ounce weight gives it plenty of metal to work with, allowing some high-relief, and a diameter of 50 mm. It comes presented in a latex-skin frame with a Certificate of Authenticity, and has a mintage of 750 pieces. A nice change from the sharp, defined look of so many modern coins.
LINKS: ALLCOLLECT
Colours of Wildlife: The Koala (2022 MDM Wholesale)
Mik Woodgate2022-03-02T16:17:19+00:00March 2nd, 2022|
Colours of Wildlife: The Koala (2022 MDM Wholesale)
Last year, MDM debuted the first of its Colours of Wildlife series, with a cool-looking Tiger coin. Ostensibly the sequel series to the producer’s, sometimes very pretty ‘Underwater World’ series, it carried on with the same format (3 oz silver, concave high-relief, resin fill), but switched out the blue resin infill for a foliage green instead. Now it’s back in 2022 with the second issue, the Koala, an animal that coin collectors need no introduction to, given its popularity.
Issued for Barbados, their coat-of-arms takes pride of place in the centre, but the obverse is much more than that. Surrounding it is a superb panorama of animals, likely the upcoming subjects for future coins, complete with lashing of foliage. We love it when mints take full advantage of both faces of the coin, and even though this is a common one to the series, it’s still a huge boost to the appeal of the finished item.
The reverse face remains the main attraction, however, and it’s good to see another fine effort from MDM. The border, complete with foliage enhancing the sense of depth on the coin, carries the title (did we really need the word ‘Australian’ given the animal resides nowhere else?), and the date. The high-relief depiction of the Koala is excellent, and the translucent green resin infill, over more foliage, gives it context. Overall, a really nice addition to the fledgling series, which continues the fine legacy of Underwater World.
February, 2022
Pelican Rwanda African Ounce bullion coin (2022 BH Mayer)
Mik Woodgate2022-02-28T17:40:56+00:00February 28th, 2022|
Pelican Rwanda African Ounce bullion coin (2022 BH Mayer)
There aren’t many bullion series with annually changing designs that can boast of hitting fifteen issues, but joining that club this year is the Rwandan African Ounce. At one time, this was a big hit, with early issues attracting some serious prices on the aftermarket, and while that interest has cooled somewhat, no doubt due to the massive upsurge in different designs available today, it maintains a place in many collectors line-ups.
These are attractive coins, but suffer in small amount, by having so little of the design change each year. The obverse is a common one, and the reverse is dominated by an inscription-filled border, inside which is a neat topographical representation of the African continent. The only part that changes annually is the animal artwork to the bottom-left. Fortunately, these are very well done, and the Pelican chosen for 2022 is an excellent effort.
There are four variants in the range, all of which weigh a troy ounce. The silver bullion coin has an uncapped mintage, but the silver proof coin has a limit of 1,000 pieces. The gold bullion will only have 100 units produced, just like the new kid on the block, the platinum variant. The first time this metal has appeared in this series, it’s as good an indicator as you’ll get that the Rwandan African Ounce is doing just fine. All are available to order now. We’d like to do a guide to the series, but getting decent images is proving difficult.
LINKS: PREVIOUS COIN IN THE SERIES
Chinese Myths & Legends Dragon Platinum (2022 Perth Mint/LPM)
Mik Woodgate2022-02-14T10:12:33+00:00February 14th, 2022|
Chinese Myths & Legends Dragon Platinum (2022, Perth Mint/LPM)
Launching today is a platinum version of the 2021 Chinese Dragon coin, the latest in LPM and the Perth Mint’s ‘Chinese Myths & Legends’ series. Launching in 2017, the series is mainly themed around dragons, although there has been a ‘Pixiu’ coin, and it’s fair to say that the overall standard has been very high, especially for a bullion series.
The latest addition is quite different, being a proof platinum coin, complete with the presentation you would expect from the Perth Mint. Still a relatively scarce metal in the numismatic world, platinum is now quite a bit cheaper than gold, making this relatively affordable. Just 150 of these reverse-proof coins will be produced, and it’s available from LPM right now. We have a full guide to the bullion series if you’re interested.
Persona Mask Gilded stacker bullion (2022 Coins Today Korea)
Mik Woodgate2022-02-10T19:36:27+00:00February 10th, 2022|
Persona Mask Gilded stacker bullion (2022 Coins Today Korea)
Coins Today Korea are busy little beavers at the moment, enjoying the success that their innovative and varied bullion stacker releases have garnered. Most have taken mythology or history for inspiration, but last month, they released an original piece shaped like a faceted mask. For the first time, the Persona was released with two different finishes, which they termed light and dark antique, but were more closely akin to uncirculated and black coloured. The darker variant had a mintage fixed at only 3,000 pieces, and came boxed with a COA. The standard version had an unlimited mintage.
Now, CTK have added a gilded version to the mix, and one with a relatively tiny mintage of only 456 units. In all other respects, it’s the same , but it does make a striking contrast to the other pair. The gilded variant should be available shortly, but expect to pay a premium for it, which is understandable given the limited production. You can read more about the first issues in our original post.
Chibi Fennec Shand & Warriors – Ninja (2022 New Zealand Mint)
Mik Woodgate2022-02-08T01:37:51+00:00February 8th, 2022|
Chibi Fennec Shand & Warriors - Ninja (2022 New Zealand Mint)
Just a quick heads up on two new Chibi coins. Not unusual, of course, but one of them will be a huge fan favourite. Fennec Shand is a character in the new The Book of Boba Fett television series, straight from the Star Wars Universe. Extremely popular, we reckon if you want her Chibi coin, don’t hang around.
Also dropping today is the second Warrior’s Chibi, in this case, the Ninja. This is distributed by Glines and Rhodes, but are packaged in exactly the same way as the direct New Zealand Mint coins. Both are available right now.
LINKS: AgAuNEWS CHIBI SERIES PROFILE
Tower of Babel silver coin (2021 Mint of Poland)
Mik Woodgate2022-02-01T14:36:06+00:00February 1st, 2022|
Tower of Babel silver coin (2021 Mint of Poland)
The latest coin to emanate from the prolific Mint of Poland is this unusual take on the ancient tale of the Tower of Babel. Said to have been a project by the united peoples of Earth to reach the heavens, God wasn’t pleased, and scattered them around the world, giving each group a different language to prevent them trying again. The story is meant to explain all the world’s different languages, and the tower is visualised as a layered building, getting smaller as it rose.
The Mint of Poland have depicted the structure quite differently. Instead of the traditional ‘wedding cake’ layered appearance, they’ve depicted it as an almost M.C. Escher-like mix of different architectural styles. There’s a stained-glass ‘Rose’ window, Gothic doorways, and modern glass and steel as well. This is, perhaps, suggesting that working together, and bringing all those styles to bear, means we can achieve more.
It’s an intriguing idea, and we’d certainly like to see actual images of the coin, rather than this less than stellar render. The coin is an ounce in weight (28.28 grams, not 31.1), and is struck to a proof finish. The mintage is set at 500 pieces, and the coin is presented in a latex floating frame. Available to order now.
LINKS: MINT OF POLAND
January, 2022
Icons of Inspiration 03: Isaac Newton (2022 APMEX)
Mik Woodgate2022-01-31T22:01:32+00:00January 31st, 2022|
Icons of Inspiration 03: Isaac Newton (2022 APMEX)
American mega dealer, APMEX, has launched the third in its excellent bullion coin series, ‘Icons of Innovation’. As with the previous Galileo Gallilei, and Leonardo da Vinci coins, this one is designed by regarded coin and stamp artist, Joel Iskowitz, who clearly knows his stuff based on this series alone. The premise of this series is simple enough. Each release showcases an intellectual giant, and features a rendering of the person in front of a background filled with their works.
This latest release highlights the genius of Sir Isaac Newton, the 17th century physicist, mathematician, and astronomer, known for having a Granny Smith land on his head. His 1687 scientific work, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), formulate the laws of motion and gravitation we still reference today. He even spent the last decades of his life as Master of the Royal Mint.
The coin is superb, especially so for bullion. Newton is well realised, with the kind of hair that would make Brian May jealous, and the rest is filled with nods to his lifes work. There’s a prism splitting light, planetary bodies, a coin (the 1718 Gold Quarter Guinea), and, of course, an apple. It’s packed to the rim with relevant touches. Really first class work. The beautiful obverse, with the female personification holding a shield of the Niue national emblem on it, returns.
No changes to the formats from previous issues. The silver bullion coin has a 10,000 mintage, and there’s also a proof version capped at just 100 pieces, although carrying a hefty $250 USD price tag. A gold bullion coin is also limited to 100 pieces, and comes in similar packaging to the silver proof. Available from today, direct from APMEX, this is an outstanding release, in our view.
The Matrix (2022 New Zealand Mint)
Mik Woodgate2022-01-31T19:42:36+00:00January 31st, 2022|
The Matrix (2022 New Zealand Mint)
In a list of the most original and groundbreaking science-fiction movies of all time, The Matrix would sit near the top of all of them. Striking visuals, with a multi-layered story, it was a huge hit when it premiered in 1999, and spawned three sequels. It also popularised ‘bullet-time’, a filming technique that became the movie’s signature look.
The coin takes one of those scenes for its inspiration, in this case the legendary fight in the Merovingian’s castle, actually a scene from the second movie, Matrix Reloaded. It depicts Neo, played by Keanu Reeve, freezing scores of bullets shot at him by the Merovingian’s henchmen in mid-air. It’s a simple coloured one-ounce coin, but it’s lifted out of the ordinary by the raised and polished ‘bullets’, giving the design some added depth. Aside from the movie title, the reverse is free of superfluous inscriptions, and ‘THE ONE’ is engraved on the coin edge.
It’s a New Zealand Mint coin, so packaging is excellent, and the mintage is capped at 3,000 pieces. Available now, a decent homage to a special movie.
LINKS: PREVIOUS COIN IN THE SERIES
Animals of Africa – Elephant silver coin (2021 MTB/PAMP)
Mik Woodgate2022-01-25T18:48:09+00:00January 25th, 2022|
Animals of Africa - Elephant silver coin (2021 MTB/PAMP)
The third coin in PAMP/MTB’s ‘Animals of Africa’ shaped silver coins is now available. Following the Nile Crocodile and the African Lion, the African Elephant is formed in an ounce of 0.9999 silver, and reaches out to a decent 42 mm in size. It’s actually an impressive coin, showing clear advances, especially the very small border, over earlier series, like the bird coins.
Issued for the Solomon Islands, and with a reverse-proof finish, there’s a mintage cap of 2,500 pieces. The coin seems well presented, as we’ve seen this box style in hand for a few earlier releases, and come away pleased with it. These types of coins are an acquired taste, admittedly, but this seems to be a well done example, trading high-relief for affordability, and that’s fine. Available to order now.
LINKS: Giants of the Galapagos
Chibi Dr McCoy and Pennywise from It (2022 New Zealand Mint)
Mik Woodgate2022-01-25T11:34:27+00:00January 25th, 2022|
Chibi Dr McCoy and Pennywise from It (2022 New Zealand Mint)
New Chibi coins continue to emanate from the New Zealand Mint, and while we’ve moved most coverage to our semiregular round up articles, there will always be interesting ones we want to cover on release day. Today is such a day, as the mint adds yet another new subseries to the ever-expanding Chibi juggernaut.
The first of the late January pair is the third in the Star Trek: Original Series coins, with Dr. McCoy joining Kirk and Spock. No surprises there. The second coin is far more appealing, and takes its theme from a genre, rather than a specific show or movie. We all love a good horror film, and there are so many iconic villains populating them that turning them into Chibi seems a no-brainer.
The launch coin features the very distinctive, and timely, Pennywise, from Stephen King’s ‘It’ novels and films. They’ve done a super job with the depiction, which bodes well for the series moving forward. Indeed, the next issue is a real head turner. More like this instead of rehashed ‘Harry Potter in pyjamas’ please. And Babylon 5 – I want a Chibi Shadow…
LINKS: AgAuNEWS CHIBI SERIES PROFILE
Platinum 25 Franc coin (2022 Swiss Mint)
Mik Woodgate2022-01-13T12:40:13+00:00January 13th, 2022|
Platinum 25 Franc coin (2022 Swiss Mint)
In a first for the Swiss Mint, they’re issuing a platinum coin. Struck in 13.89 grams of 0.9995 platinum, it’s not only is made of the metal, it has it as its subject as well. The reverse face of the coin consists of a mix of chemical symbolism and data, including the metals atomic weight, position in the Periodic Table, and elemental symbol. The obverse is a standard Swiss Mint one, the producer not known for deviation in that regard.
This 25 mm diameter proof-finish coin has a mintage of 999 pieces, and comes boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity. Designed by artist Remo Mascherini, whose mintmark is placed to the bottom right, this is a clean, on-point coin that should have appeal to the science crowd. Available from today in the Swiss Mint e-store for 799 CHF.
LINKS: SWISS MINT STORE
SAMURAI & BOBA FETT CHIBI (2022 NZ Mint)
Mik Woodgate2022-01-11T12:57:14+00:00January 11th, 2022|
SAMURAI & BOBA FETT CHIBI (2022 NZ Mint)
Well, 2022 is here, and it seems the Chibi juggernaut isn’t going to be slowing down for it. The four issues per month schedule will be continuing in January, and as usual, there will be two pairs issued, one early, one late in the month. More importantly, three of the four will be launch coins in new subseries, including both of those we’re showing today.
Star Wars, and The Mandalorian, have both had subseries made for them, so it’s no surprise the latest Disney Star Wars TV show, The Book of Boba Fett, is also getting the Chibi treatment. Boba Fett himself is the obvious first coin, and that is indeed the case. It’s different from the one in the core Star Wars series, at least from the head down, but it’s instantly recognisable. It has to be, or you risk the ire of the fanbase!
The second, early January release is far more interesting. Almost all Chibi coins are tied to one media franchise or another, so it’s a pleasure to see something different. The NZ Mint is returning to its Warriors of History theme, last seen on a one-ounce coin series in 2016. The Japanese Samurai warrior is the first, and it looks to be a first class reimagining. If they follow the schedule of that earlier series, the Viking will be next, but that’s just our guess.
Both coins are available now, and have been added to our uber-epic Chibi Coin Series Profile.
LINKS: AgAuNEWS CHIBI SERIES PROFILE
Biblical Series 41 St Paul Shipwrecked (2021 Scottsdale Mint)
Mik Woodgate2022-01-11T11:56:47+00:00January 11th, 2022|
Biblical Series 41 St Paul Shipwrecked (2021 Scottsdale Mint)
Coin 41 of the 60 that will make up Scottsdale Mint’s decade-long homage to the Biblical works of 19th century French woodcut artist, Gustave Dore, has launched today. We’ve been covering this series of two-ounce silver coins since it debuted in 2015, and they’ve been popular enough that we get asked when the next one is due. This coin is actually the penultimate 2021 release, delayed because of our insidious little viral nemesis.
The coin is titled ‘St Paul Shipwrecked’, and is one of the better looking in the series, for me. There are a lot of things going on within the artwork, and it’s made the transition to the circular coin format with aplomb. Very nice. Packaging remains with the cardboard book-style box, and the mintage stays the same at 1,499 pieces. Early buyers of this should also enjoy a lower price. Check out our full Coin Series Profile of the range.
LINKS: AgAuNEWS COIN SERIES PROFILE