Scottsdale Mint’s huge EC8 bullion series hits its 2021 halfway mark with Anguilla and Dominica additions

Scottsdale Mint’s flagship bullion coin series, the Eastern Caribbean 8, has been one of the victims of constraints placed on the mint by the pandemic, but they’ve been working hard to get back on track. They’ve now issued the second of the four pairs of coins due in 2021. This time, the two nations chosen are Dominica, a stunning jungle-covered mountainous island known for its wildlife, and a personal favourite, Anguilla. There are, as you’ve no doubt ascertained from the series title, eight island nations in the Eastern Caribbean represented each year, and this is the fourth year it’s been running.

Each takes a characteristic of the country for showcasing, and with Dominica, that tends to gravitate towards the astonishing microcosm that is the volcanic (it actually has the world’s second-biggest hot spring) islands’ ecosystem. Scottsdale have chosen the island’s national bird, the Sisserou, also called the Imperial Amazon parrot, and the depiction of a pair of them is charming.

For Anguilla, we’ve moved away from the lobsters of prior issues, to the famous sailing regattas. These are huge events on the island, as much a part of the calendar as the Superbowl is in the US. There’s a fantastic atmosphere during the races, and almost the entire island comes out to watch. I’d hoped to dig out some of my images of the time I lived there back in 2005/6, with show the races under way, but they’re archived somewhere, so no luck yet.

Each design comes in the same gold and silver bullion (both a troy ounce), as well as gold and silver coloured, that has defined the EC8 programme since inception. The latter pair come boxed with a certificate of authenticity. All variants should be available to order now. You can see all the previous 26 issues in each of the 4 variants in our comprehensive Bullion Coin Profile.