The first release in what we’re expecting to be a busy year for Scottsdale Mint, is the 2025 entrant in one of their most attractive series. The Samoan Seahorse silver bullion series debuted for 2018, with the 2019 coins adding an antiqued variant with a far smaller mintage. In 2023, they added what they term as Alpha Strike coins, which are basically the first coins struck, when the die is at its most defined. They did this for BU and antiqued variants. All the coins in this series (excepting a 1oz gold proof in 2019), are 1oz 0.999 silver.

The latest coin is another fine design, although with a layout that’s been employed in the series before. That doesn’t detract from what is a great looking coin. This time it’s the Zebra Seahorse, one of the 46 species of seahorse, and a quite beautiful animal that is endemic to Northern Australia. Living in the coral reefs of the region, it grows to just shy of 10 cm, and takes its name from its black and white stripes. The animal depiction is quite realistic, and the environment is well realised.

I’ve always favoured the antiqued finish, and that’s also the case here. With a mintage of just 1,000 units, compared to the standard coin’s 10,000, it’s also more attractive from a rarity point-of-view, which makes the extra few dollars for one easier to swallow. A fine addition to a stand-out series, which you can see in its entirety in our humungous guide to Scottsdale Mint’s bullion series, which is spread over two pages.