The Perth Mint’s Captain : Vessel range of Star Trek coins carries on and reaches the midway point with the third release, Deep Space 9. The range kicked off in style with the iconic Captain Kirk and USS Enterprise from the original 1960’s series and then moved forward to the 1980’s with the most popular version of Star Trek, The Next Generation.

Running for seven years between 1993 and 1999, Deep Space 9 never quite enjoyed the huge popularity of the Next Generation, but is considered by many to be a superior work. Unlike the fundamentally episodic nature of the first two Trek series, DS9 encompassed an ambitious story arc that ran through most of the series, especially the last six seasons. Starting off quite shakey with some less than stellar acting, it matured into a work of excellence that dealt with themes in a much darker tone than the series that had preceded it. It’s debatable whether DS9 followed the concurrent Warner series Babylon 5 with its epic five-year arc, but it can be considered a successful endeavour regardless.

As is normal for the series, there are two coins and they’re available individually, or as a two-coin set. From DS9, the subjects are Captain Benjamin Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, and the station he commanded and the central premise of the show, Deep Space 9. Following on from these will be pairs based on Voyager and Enterprise. Packaging is first class, with the individual coins sitting in a cool led-lit custom display unit. The two-coin set seems to be the one that everbody wants. Presented in a reproduction matter transporter, it’s also led-lit. As we’ve said before, it’s a little disappointing that this will be the same for all five two-coin sets and although it is a nice item, we’d have preferred something a little different each time, maybe even something that could be fitted together to display all ten coins together.

Available to buy from the Perth Mint website today, we’ve noticed that the two-coin set that really flew from the shelves when the Original Trek coins launched, hung around for quite a bit longer in the case of the Next-Gen set. They did sell out, however, and we’d expect they will do so again, but we don’t feel it’s wise to pay a huge premium for the set this time.

Next month will see the first release of a Star Trek coin outside of this specific series when the Perth Mint will release a Spock coin. Expect a design in the same style as these. A fitting release for the recently deceased and much loved actor, Leonard Nimoy.

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MINTS DESCRIPTION

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine debuted in 1993 and ran for seven seasons until 1999. Set in the future in the Milky Way Galaxy, it follows the 23rd century adventures of Captain Benjamin Sisko during his seven year assignment as commander of the space station Deep Space 9 in
the Bajor sector.

Since its debut, Star Trek has developed into a cultural phenomenon with a range of spinoff television series and a number of feature films being released over the past five decades. The series explored a variety of societal themes and issues including a Utopian society, war and peace, imperialism, economics, racial equality, religion, human rights, feminism, and the role of technology.

Struck by The Perth Mint from 1oz of 99.9% pure silver, both coins are issued as legal tender under the authority of the Government of Tuvalu.

SISKO REVERSE: portrays a colour image of actor Avery Brooks as he appeared as the Captain in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, against a representation of the space station Deep Space 9. The design also includes the inscription CAPTAIN BENJAMIN SISKO, The Perth Mint’s traditional ‘P’ mintmark, and the coin’s weight and fineness.

DS9 REVERSE: portrays an image of the space station as it appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, against a coloured space background. The design also includes the inscriptions STAR TREK, DEEP SPACE NINE and DEEP SPACE 9, The Perth Mint’s traditional ‘P’ mintmark, and the coin’s weight and fineness.

COMMON OBVERSE: depicts the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the monetary denomination, and the 2015 year-date.

PACKAGING: When these coins are purchased individually, the coins are presented in a Star Trek inspired case. The two-coin set is packaged in a case designed to look like a Star Trek Transporter. The Captain Benjamin Sisko coin sits inside and when the ‘door’ of the Transporter is opened, a light comes on so that the Captain appears to be teleporting. The Deep Space 9 coin sits on top of the case in its own compartment which also lights up. Each coin and set is accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity

SPECIFICATION