With the World Money Fair in Berlin having concluded, it’s time for us to start having a look at some of the impressive offerings that make up CIT’s Winter Launch, which debuted there. What better place to start than one of this technically accomplished producer’s finest ranges – Historical Monuments.

It launched for the 2022 issue year with a beautiful Leaning Tower of Pisa design that immediately made it clear, not only what the series would be about, but also the capabilities of the latest incarnation of their proprietary smartminting tech, developed with the German mint, BH Mayer. Those capabilities were considerable, and to this day, smartminting forms the cornerstone of CIT’s realisation of an idea into a numismatic.

The fourth coin continues to push limits, and is an extraordinary depiction of one of the world’s most iconic buildings – the Taj Mahal. Located at Agra in India, the Taj Mahal (“crown of palaces”) is a white marble mausoleum built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction took place from 1632 to around 1650 and was entrusted to a principal designer, generally considered to be Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

The building is shown in startling relief, not only on the reverse face, but completely reproduced on the obverse as well. The main difference lies in the engraved detailing in the background. On the reverse face, this consists of intricate detailing that adorns the building throughout. On the obverse, there’s an internal view of the area under the dome. The coin is flat on its bottom edge, allowing it to stand completely unaided. It’s a remarkable design, using high-relief to a greater extent than previous issues (shown lower down).

As has always been the case for this series, there are two sizes on offer, one weighing in at two ounces, the other five. It’s incredible that there is so little difference in detail between the two, with just the larger diameter differentiating between them. Both come packaged in the same type of latex-skin ‘floating’ frame, differing only in the artwork. A genuinely tremendous release, and the finest depiction of the building we’ve ever seen of the building. Available to order now.