Probably the most enthusiastic of the minigold producers, CIT have a really wide range of traditional, and more eclectic half-gram gold coins, going back over a decade. We were first attracted to the concept by the excellent Ancient Roman inspired series, ‘Coins of the Roman Empire’, that were issued between 2009 and 2012, but numerous coin issues by CIT in recent years often come accompanied by a minigold.

In this case, however, we have a custom series not associated with one of their many regarded numismatic ranges. Special Shapes Gold is exactly as the name suggests. A collection of minigold coins struck in various shapes, all eminently affordable examples of the type, and each having potential in the jewellery market as well. The first of these appeared in 2007, and there’ve been 35 issues since, the latest being the four released here.

There’s something for everyone in the range, with this new batch offering designs for the leisure crowd. Perhaps not everyone has a boat, but footballs and games consoles, for sure. As for guitars, I recently bought a small £25 stick vacuum cleaner to keep the usual PC office dust down better, and was sent an £80 Death-Metal electric guitar by mistake, that they told me to keep. Now I’m harbouring plans to be the next frontman for AC/DC, and the Mrs is looking for a hitman…

Available to order now, these 0.5 gram Palau-issued coins each have a 15,000 mintage. I feel we should have a profile of these out later in January, perhaps, or a general minigold round-up like our Perth Mint bullion guide, for all coins in the format released per calendar year.