February, 2021
LUCKY HORSESHOE DIMENSIONAL COIN (2021 CIT)
Mik Woodgate2021-02-15T12:26:13+00:00February 15th, 2021|
LUCKY HORSESHOE DIMENSIONAL (2021 CIT)
One of the pioneers of shaped, non-geometric dimensional coins, CIT have issued some striking examples over the last few years. As they’ve become more comfortable with the process, we’re starting to see coins of this style at the more affordable end of the market. Where better to go next than a perennial staple of CIT’s annual lin-up, the lucky coin?
At only an ounce in weight, this is an impressive piece for the format, a full on horseshoe-shaped coin, decorated with scenes of the Wild West, lifted straight from the old Hollywood movies. Giant cacti, mountains and a cowboy make it clear what this one is about. Strangely for a ‘lucky’ coin, the decoration and inscriptions are orientated for the coins ‘prongs’ to face down. A lucky horseshoe is meant to be displayed ‘prongs up’, so the luck doesn’t drain out, at least here in the UK.
Antique finished and with a 2,500 mintage, this Palau issue makes a great gift in a popular genre. The Mint of Poland and many others issue luck-themed coins, so it’s clearly a subject in demand, but few look as cool as this one.
BRITANNIA 1/4OZ SILVER BULLION (2021 ROYAL MINT)
Mik Woodgate2021-02-10T18:47:11+00:00February 10th, 2021|
BRITANNIA 1/4OZ SILVER BULLION (2021 ROYAL MINT)
That perennial favourite of the bullion coin world, the Royal Mint’s Britannia, now has a baby brother in its cheapest form. The silver coin, recently upgraded with a new picosecond laser finish, rarely dips below an ounce in weight. Given the low price of silver and the diminishing returns of smaller fractionals, it’s hardly surprising, but as silver has risen over the last year or so, interest has obviously been rekindled.
The basic design remains the same, but that aforementioned laser engraved wave background field has given way to the standard wave finish, and Britannia’s shield also lacks the enhanced finish. There’s no security privy mark either, but again, we’re not surprised given this amount of silver is hardly the first choice of a counterfeit operation.
No doubt this fills a hole in the market, but we remain unconvinced about bullion fractional silver as a volume thing. One for the collector perhaps, but a serious stacker will be better served by the one-ounce variant. LPM seem to be the first to have it up, but we assume others will stock it also. Tubes and Monster boxes are available, containing a rather odd 19 and 380 pieces respectively. Available shortly.
Latest issue in the Polish ‘Enduring Soldiers Accursed by the Communists’ released
Mik Woodgate2021-02-10T16:03:09+00:00February 10th, 2021|
Latest issue in the Polish 'Enduring Soldiers Accursed by the Communists' released
Just a heads up that the latest issue in the fascinating, if over-named ‘The Enduring Soldiers Accursed by the Communists’ from the National Bank of Poland is now out. The half-ounce sterling silver series has been running since 2017 and is struck to a proof finish with just a simple red highlight on the reverse face.
The history behind the people on these coins is tragic and not well known, and for that alone, the series is worthy of a second look. We particularly like these coins for what they demonstrate about the power of numismatics to bring to light and place a spotlight on events in history that are less widely known. We’d imagine that this series reasonates particularly strongly in Poland, a country that loves it coins. We have a full Coin Series Profile of the range up, to which this one, featuring ‘Huzar’ has been added. The descriptive histories of each figure by the mint is poignant and tragic. Very heroic people.
LINKS: AgAuNEWS Coin Series Profile
Revised images of Mint XXI’s superb ‘Shaolin Tiger’ coin
Mik Woodgate2021-02-09T13:59:32+00:00February 9th, 2021|
Revised images of Mint XXI's superb 'Shaolin Tiger' coin
We had a look at Mint XXI’s excellent ‘Shaolin Tiger’ coin last week, but unusually for them, we had line renders rather than actual coin images. That’s now been rectified and we’ve updated the article to include them. As you can see from the close-up picture above, it’s everything we hoped. Check out the revised article at the link below.
LINKS: NEW UPDATED ARTICLE
2021 CHIBI FRODO BAGGINS AND LORD VOLDEMORT
Mik Woodgate2021-02-08T21:23:52+00:00February 8th, 2021|
2021 CHIBI FRODO BAGGINS AND LORD VOLDEMORT
The NZ Mint’s Chibi tsunami continues apace with a new addition to the Harry Potter series, the seventh, and a whole new franchise to mine – Lord of the Rings. The big baddie of the Pottervers, Lord Voldemort, is the subject this time, as the mint rapidly works its way through the character lineup. We do note that only on the Potter coins is there a ‘I’ after the name of the character, so whether that indicates a further coin for them is coming, we don’t know.
The new Lord of the Rings series kicks off with Frodo Baggins. We suspect that as Potter runs out of charcters big enough to see coins, it will pass the baton to LotR to carry on. We know at least one other sub-franchise is coming to Chibi soon, so we may just be seeing a gradual and layered movement to fresh subject universes.
These two come out today and there are two more on the 23rd, one of which will be huge. We remain a little worried about the sheer pace of release, but most are still selling out, so what do we know? Whatever the case, one of 2020’s freshest and most innovative coin ranges is still hot stuff. The concept is open to further expansion in a sensible and measured way. The mint has previously issued Doctor Who and Thunderbirds coins, both of which would look good as Chibi, although the latter should concentrate on the original 60’s classic, rather than the awful CGI rmake doing the rounds now. Check out our full roundup of all the new releases at the link below and feel free to leave suggestions in the comments on what you’d like to see.
LINKS: AgAuNEWS CHIBI COIN SERIES PROFILE
KANGAROO OUTBACK MAJESTY (2021 Royal Australian Mint)
Mik Woodgate2021-02-08T16:59:48+00:00February 8th, 2021|
KANGAROO OUTBACK MAJESTY (2021 Royal Australian Mint)
A regular fixture at the Royal Australian Mint, the kangaroo has appeared on some iconic designs over the years, from Stuart Devlin’s ‘Mob of Roos’, to the beloved ‘Kangaroo at Sunset’. It’s hard to believe the core Kangaroo Series will be hitting its 30th anniversary in 2023, but you begin to see why when we get designs like these.
A fully stylistic artistic approach has worked wonders here, everything depicted in representative form. The end result is unique and attractive, in our view, the best the series has offered for years. It would be great to see this evolve over the next few years. The obverse is the usual dull, unadorned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, sadly.
Two variants make up the range, both an ounce of 0.999 silver in composition. A proof variant for $105 AUD comes boxed with a C.O.A. and has a 5,000 mintage. An unboxed frosted uncirculated coin with a 10,000 mintage and a $70 AUD price tag rounds out the selection. Bar the finish, they look identical and both are available to order now. Beautiful release.
LINKS: ROYAL AUSTRALIAN MINT
DOUBLE DRAGON TEN-OUNCE SILVER BULLION (2021 Perth Mint)
Mik Woodgate2021-02-05T00:42:38+00:00February 5th, 2021|
DOUBLE DRAGON TEN-OUNCE SILVER BULLION (2021 Perth Mint)
The Perth Mint’s pretty ‘Double Dragon’ coin returns for a third year with a timely ten-ounce silver bullion variant, exclusively from LPM. The design first appeared in 2019 in one-ounce bullion form, and returned last year as a proof coin, but with just 888 being minted, this chunky ten-ounce 0.9999 silver bullion variant may well be the most sought after yet.
The double dragon is a powerful image in Asian mythology and the coin uses a style inspired by the mints 2012 Lunar Series II bullion coin. As you can see, this is a thickie, and that 888 mintage makes this an attractive purchase, as does the 75.6 mm diameter. Available to order now at LPM.
ROYAL MINT TO SELL ULTRA RARE HENRY VII SOVEREIGN
Mik Woodgate2021-02-04T11:56:40+00:00February 4th, 2021|
ROYAL MINT TO SELL ULTRA RARE HENRY VII SOVEREIGN
Seems like the Royal Mint is pushing into historic coins and they’ve certainly gone in with style. A half-millennia old Sovereign of Henry VII with a opening bid of £950,000 is a sign of intent. An absolutely gorgeous coin, of course, we’ve often wondered why the mint doesn’t tap more into this genre for new releases, like the Royal Dutch Mint does with its restrikes. Amazing to think this 40 mm diameter, 15.3 gram, 0.995 gold coin was struck by essentially the same mint..
PRESS RELEASE:
The Royal Mint’s historic coin experts have sourced a Type 2 Henry VII Sovereign, one of a select few in the world that are not held by a museum. The Henry VII Fine Gold Sovereign of Twenty Shillings is the earliest gold Sovereign a collector can own and there are only two examples in private ownership, making it a rare and historic addition to a collection. Struck more than 500 years ago, this exceptionally rare coin was created to assert the authority of the first Tudor king of England through its splendour and impressive weight and size. Bids will open at £950,000 for the sought-after coin.
Famous for making new coins, The Royal Mint successfully expanded into the sale of rare, historic coins two years ago. The company now helps customers track down rare examples to add to their collection, and authenticate coins on the secondary market using their unique experience in British coinage.
Rebecca Morgan, Divisional Director of Collector Services, comments: “We are delighted to have acquired such a rare coin which traces its history to the first Tudor king. The survival rate of these gold coins is miniscule, and this particular coin is the earliest example of a gold Sovereign that a collector can own. Our experts have checked and validated the coin, and there are just two left in private ownership – making this an incredibly exciting addition to a collection.
Rebecca continues: “The Royal Mint was originally based at The Tower of London, and this coin would have been hand struck on ‘Mint Street’ – which still stands today. What makes this coin even more fascinating is that we can trace its ownership back to the 1800’s. One notable owner of the coin was the world-renowned banker J. P. Morgan, who owned the coin until his death in 1913 with subsequent sale in 1915.
“We have seen many customers buying historic coins to bring purpose to their collection, either as an investment for the future or an heirloom to pass onto the next generation. Our Collector Services division is growing year on year, and with 1,100 years of expertise, the team here at The Royal Mint can help enrich and enhance any coin collection. We set the record for the sale of a British historic coin at £1 million last year – so who knows, perhaps this might beat the record.”
The gold Sovereign of Twenty Shillings was first introduced in the reign of the first Tudor King, Henry VII (1485-1509) 1489 over 500 years ago. The coin depicts the crowned Tudor King seated on a wooden throne, in robes, holding an orb and sceptre, the reverse shows the quartered shield of England upon a Tudor rose. Henry VII started the Tudor dynasty and was determined to cement his position. He was the father on the infamous Henry VIII, and grandfather to Elizabeth I.
The coin was acquired by The Royal Mint’s Collector Services division, that offers a range of services including authentication and valuation, accessories to care for and display treasured pieces, an unrivalled coin finder service, providing the safety and security of 1100 years of knowledge to go out into the secondary market and find the missing pieces from collections, help to fill the gaps or find that one rare piece a customer has always wanted.
THE BATMOBILE 1966 (2021 NZ MINT)
Mik Woodgate2021-02-02T22:08:20+00:00February 2nd, 2021|
THE BATMOBILE 1966 (2021 NZ MINT)
Same Bat Time. Same Bat Channel. It’s 1966 again and the New Zealand Mint is launching a new Batman-inspired series featuring the evolution of the Batmobile through his history. What better place to start than one of the most iconic vehicles in any genre, the Adam West Batmobile from the ultra-camp and quite mad television series.
The usual simple format from the mint, unfortunately, but they’ve done a good job with the choice. Antique-finished with a coloured Batmobile and TV show logo, it certainly captures some of the shows magic. The Batman head above seems not related, so we’re going out on a limb and guessing that’s the coin series logo. The background field looks like the flaming exhaust from the car. We’d have dumped the Batman head and just had the car and show logo as it seems a bit over-busy. Perhaps a rectangular format would have suited better.
A 1oz 0.999 silver coin, packaged in the superb acrylic block frames this mint pioneered, and the mintage is 2,000 pieces. Available from today, it’s billed as the first in a series, but whether it goes the comic book route, or preferably, the movie route, remains to be seen. The licencing around this stuff is complicated.
LINKS: BATMAN 66 COIN SERIES
OCEAN PREDATORS – GREAT WHITE SHARK (2021 MTB/PAMP)
Mik Woodgate2021-02-02T19:40:47+00:00February 2nd, 2021|
OCEAN PREDATORS - GREAT WHITE SHARK (2021 MTB/PAMP)
It seems PAMP/MTB are continuing to stake out their claim to the more unusually shaped coins after a 2020 that saw PEZ, Giants of the Galapagos Islands, and Hunters of the Sky/Deep. We’ve already had Sweethearts and Fender guitar picks, so it’s of little surprise to see the Galapagos series style appear with a new subject for a new range, Ocean Predators.
The Great White Shark is an obvious first choice, and demonstrates the style pretty well. The beast leaping from the water, is also leaping from the confines of a standard round coin. The artwork covers the odd shape completely with just date and composition inscriptions present. Issued for Solomon Islands, the obverse is filled with an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, with a background field seemingly covered by a marine topographical map of the surrounding seas.
Packaging is a neat box with a C.O.A. and the 2 oz 0.9999 proof silver coin has a mintage of 1,500 pieces. It spans out to around 55 mm in diameter, and should retail around the $150 USD mark. The next two coins follow a similar style and feature the Polar Bear and the Killer Whale. Available this month.
LINKS: PAMPS SIMILAR CURRENT SERIES
DEADLY & DANGEROUS STINGRAY (2021 PERTH MINT)
Mik Woodgate2021-02-01T23:19:16+00:00February 1st, 2021|
DEADLY & DANGEROUS STINGRAY (2021 PERTH MINT)
Once one of the hottest series in the coin world, driven by the phenomenal success of the debut Red-back Spider coin, Deadly & Dangerous is still going strong after 15 years. It isn’t slowing down, with this week seeing the 16th coin in the series making an appearance. A one-ounce, proof with colour series issued for Tuvalu, each one depicts an animal from Australia’s boundless selection of man-hating fauna, whether on land, or in the sea (fortunately, the skies seem to be fairly sedate in comparison…).
This time we’re back getting our feet wet with a relatively harmless animal, but one that gained worldwide notoriety when it took the life of the legendary and much loved naturalist, Steve Irwin. These things do occur in nature,, and we’re sure Steve would have been the first to defend the Stingray. Whatever the case, it makes for a good looking entrant in the series, packed with interest and with a restrained use of colour.
Sitting alongside the silver is the now obligatory gold version, which, metal aside, looks identical. That gold version has a mintage of just 150, while the silver halves to just 2,500 pieces. Both have excellent packaging and are available from Downies and other retailers.
LINKS: AgAuNEWS Coin Series Profile
CHINESE DRAGON VASE (2021 MINT XXI)
Mik Woodgate2021-02-01T12:35:24+00:00February 1st, 2021|
CHINESE DRAGON VASE (2021 MINT XXI)
Our second look at Mint XXI’s new releases is a peek into the famous, and expensive, world of porcelain, here exemplified by a circa-250 year old blue and white ‘Dragon Vase’ from the Qianlong period. We’ve seen something vaguely similar a few years ago from the Mint of Poland, that involved embedding a porcelain miniature vase in a standard coin, buts this one utilises more sophisticated minting and a bigger scale.
Indeed, the colouring of the porcelain insert is off the scale impressive. Even though it’s two-ounces and 70 mm diameter, this is still a relatively small canvas to be showing levels of fine detail this high. There’s a symbiosis of fine minting and fine porcelain here that works perfectly. The background displays some Asian-style waves and the inscribed coin title.
The obverse of this gilded silver coin displays the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, even though issued for Ghana, and the coin comes very well presented in a latex floating frame for easy display. Chinese porcelain is a very popular collectors market and this seems an appropriate way for the coin market to contribute. Just 500 pieces will be minted.
January, 2021
LADY LUCK (2021 CIT)
Mik Woodgate2021-01-31T13:44:15+00:00January 31st, 2021|
LADY LUCK (2021 CIT)
CIT have long had a presence in the lucky coin genre, its annual four-leaf clover adorned ‘Ounce of Luck’ remaining popular. This year, they’ve decided to mix things up a bit with new effort leveraging the abilities of the enhanced Samrtminting to enable very high relief. A Ladybird (or Ladybug in some place in the world), is said to have been a symbol of luck for a millennia, as well as a friend to agriculture with its pest-eating ways.
The coin retains the affordable nature of ‘Ounce of Luck’ by keeping the 1oz format. There’s an extraordinary amount of sharply defined high-relief for so little metal, partly explained by the reduced diameter of 33 mm, but no less impressive. We’ve come quite a way in the last few years with regards to the colouring of high-relief, which in early times could be less than stellar. Here, there’s a very rich looking metallic finish, that pays a fine homage to the striking real-world insect.
This one comes in a latex frame, and has the neat shield emblem of the Republic of Palau on its obverse. The proof finish coin has its mintage capped at 2,021 pieces. A nice detour from the usual clover, and a coin we think may have big appeal to the younger collector.
WOODLAND SPIRITS: HEDGEHOG (2021 CIT)
Mik Woodgate2021-01-29T21:20:54+00:00January 29th, 2021|
WOODLAND SPIRITS: HEDGEHOG (2021 CIT)
We’re obviously swamped with new releases at the moment, so quite a few will be on our Quicklooks, just to try and ‘surf the wave’. That doesn’t mean only the lesser coins will be covered this way, as you can see here. Woodland Spirits is in one of CIT’s less ambitious formats, a simple 1oz coloured silver coin, yet manages to be, in my view at least, about the most attractive animal coin series on the market.
The Hedgehog release for 2021 is the fourth in the series to date, and quite exceptional. The way the artist has laid out the image to suit a coin is impeccable, the application of colour vibrant and appropriate, and the depiction of the animal, perfect. For me, it’s almost impossible to find fault with this one, and proof positive that CIT invest as much care into the lower end issues as they do in the high-end stuff. Limited to 1,500 pieces, a highly recommended buy for the nature loving collector. We believe this one comes encapsulated with a COA, a shame, but most dealers will have a neat little box available for a nominal sum.
MUSIC LEGENDS – DAVID BOWIE BULLION (2021 ROYAL MINT)
Mik Woodgate2021-01-27T12:17:21+00:00January 27th, 2021|
MUSIC LEGENDS - DAVID BOWIE BULLION (2021 ROYAL MINT)
The recent release of the third of the Royal Mint’s Music Legends coins, this time starring the legendary David Bowie, helped cement the series as one of the more popular coin ranges of 2020. Following Queen and Elton John, the Bowie coin had a great design and seems to have sold very well. Both of the earlier issues also saw bullion versions go on tour, and so it’s of little surprise that Bowie would join them.
No real changes to the design, just that slightly softer definition that comes when you drop from a proof to a brilliant uncirculated finish, although that excellent border with the issue details in it is back again. We like that. A 1oz 0.9999 gold and a 1oz 0.999 silver make up the range, with the former capped at a 2,500 mintage, and the latter at 25,000. We can see no reason why this one will be any less popular than the others. Exclusively distributed by US company, Manfra, Tordella & Brookes (a PAMP company), they should be available any time now.
LINKS: PREVIOUS COINS IN THE SERIES