Scottsdale goes off-world for its latest bullion coin selection, Alien, in silver, gold and glow-in-the-dark

One of the most inventive and varied bullion coin producers of the last decade, Scottsdale Mint is both prolific in its selection, and keeps a high standard of quality. Themes and nations are more diverse than anyone else out there, but that doesn’t mean you rest on your laurels, and their latest issue is something new for them.

Aliens are always popular, so we’re going to guess this new Ghanaian range will be equally so. It’s a terrific image of the classic ‘Grey’ alien, with its big eyes and light build, with lots of space tech and scientific charts in the background field. Even the obverse has some neat planetary imagery on it, along with the effigy of Queen Liz(ard) in the centre.

There are plenty of choices with regard to finish of this one-ounce range as well. The core choice will be the standard brilliant uncirculated finish with its mintage of 25,000 pieces. Two of the other three finishes come boxed and with considerably more limited numbers available. First is a rhodium plated coin with a glow-in-the-dark colour treatment that looks pretty neat, and that’s joined by a standard finish coin with the same fluorescent colour. Best for me is the simple antique finish. This eschews all the gimmickry for a crisp and menacing look that suits the subject well. This one comes encapsulated.

As well as those four silver coins, there’s also a one-ounce gold with a tiny 100 unit mintage. This also gets the coloured eyes and comes boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity. We like this one a lot. A great design with lots of detail for a bullion coin, combined with that ‘something for everyone’ approach when it comes to finishes. It’s available to order now and we hope this is the start of a series. Surprisingly, there’s little in the bullion market with a similar theme.