The world’s most famous piece of art is showcased on a huge one-kilo silver coin

If there’s one piece of art that needs no introduction, it’s Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa. A half-length portrait oil painting, said to be of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, it was painted in the early 1500’s and after a succession of famous owners, was acquired by the Louvre in Paris, where it has resided since 1797. With the recent stupidity in auction prices for art such as this, it’s fair to say that if the Mona Lisa ever came up for sale, it would likely break the $1b barrier.

Coins depicting the portrait are hardly rare – Numiscollect being the last to take on the task with the debut of their Art Revived series – but this one is quite unusual. While not strictly a member of the new banknote-style genre that is currently gaining traction, there are many similarities. What’s different here is the sheer scale.

Struck on a rectangular blank of some 395 x 275 mm (15.5″ x 11″) in size, this one-kilo silver coin is far larger than what has gone before. AllCollect and MNI have released similar projects in the past, but those have been formed of a mosaic of smaller coins instead of a single piece. There isn’t much to the coin, to be honest. It’s a rectangle with a reproduction of the Mona Lisa printed on it. The original is only 770 x 530 mm in size, so little is lost with this being about as large a replica as is practical. Given the iconic status of the original, this release will no doubt please admirers of it hugely. The coin has sold out at the mint, so clearly there’s demand.

Packaging couldn’t really be any better. We love these acrylic frames and can’t think of a better way to display the coin than in one of them. A wooden box of good quality holds it when it isn’t being displayed. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is aimed at the traditional coin collector. The art afficionado will have much to desire here and AllCollect have done a fine job of presenting the original in precious metal form. Available now, site sponsors Powercoin and the Mint of Gdansk have it up for sale at a price just shy of €3,000. Mintage is set at 750 pieces.