World exclusive! Space exploration kicks off the quirky ‘De Doodle’ high-relief coin series from Magikos Coins

Who hasn’t, at one time in their life, sat down and doodled on a piece of paper? Letting your imagination run riot has always been the perfect release from boredom or stress, and we all have our own styles, however bad they may be. However, it’s also a valid artistic style in its own right, able to visualise pretty much anything. It’s also a style we’ve never seen on a coin before, so step up Magikos Coins with their first issue in the ‘De Doodle’ series.

Designed by one of our favourite coin artists, Beata Kulesza-Damaziak, responsible for many of the best of the Mint of Poland’s numerous ancient mythology releases, the coin takes that style, lifts it through high-relief into the third dimension, and enhances it with some neat additions. There’s a real mix of objects depicted on this first coin, ‘Exploration of Space’, inspired by, but not slavishly copying, real elements of that subject. A pair of fully-suited astronauts, a shuttle, satellites, a rover, an Apollo-style capsule on re-entry, and more, it’s a well-chosen mix of highly-recognisable space technology, much of it recent, like the oxygen box and Ingenuity helicopter drone sent to Mars on the current Perseverance mission. Thankfully, there are no idiot billionaires on their joyrides…

Popping out from that mass of tech are the sun, and a selection of planetary bodies. Three of those planets are represented by coloured 3d-printed inserts, and they represent our moon, Mars, and Neptune, all of them appropriately designed and textured to ape their respective looks. The child-like, hand-drawn look of the text, ‘exploration of space’, is a great little touch. It combines to form an almost chaotic collage of imagery, and we love it. It’s an eclectic piece, not taking itself too seriously, but with tons of appeal.

The obverse, which at this point we’re going to assume is a common one for the series, continues that doodling style with the series title repeating all over this face, including a large version done using hologram tech. Also present, is the national emblem of the issuing country, Cameroon, and the issue and composition details. That title, along with the serial number, is engraved on the edge of the coin. It’s also a really nice size for a high-relief, three ounce coin, at 60 mm in diameter

Each coin will come in a wooden box, and a Certificate of Authenticity, as well as a ‘surprise’ that will let collectors, and especially their kids, create doodles of their own. More on that soon. The coin should be available to pre-order shortly and has a mintage of just 422 pieces. It’s been a treat to check this one out, kicking off the year with something different from the usual, and hinting at a series with much potential (I’d love to see a cave art version, for example, showing us early man’s doodles of his world!), and it’s an idea that lends itself to a wide range of subjects. With this and yesterday’s Persona Mask stacker, it seems 2022 is off to a great start. If time and the schedule allows, we’ll take a pictorial look at this one again when finalised images of the finished article are available.