Of the three new releases here, this is by far the most striking, and most original. The celebrations around Día de los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead, are held to pay respects to those that have passed, particularly within the closer network of family and friends. It’s traditionally celebrated on the first two days of November, and despite the reason for it, is a colourful affair, full of love and respect for those no longer present. It can trace its origins back to medieval Europe, especially in the Catholic south.

One of the most iconic features of the celebrations is the Sugar Skull. These are vibrantly coloured, and extravagantly decorated skulls, often edible candy, that are placed around the home in altars, or gifted. The one Coin’s Today have produced is seemingly a mix of that, and the earlier Aztec and Mayan practice, whose use of carved skulls was a little more macabre, but just as filled with meaning.

This two-ounce silver piece is, to me at least, extraordinarily beautiful. It packs in an incredible mix of Christian and Mesoamerican cultural elements, including an angel, a jaguar, a parrot, and a butterfly, the latter doing double duty as a mouth. There are flowers in the eye sockets, and ornamental lines snaking their way around the disparate elements. Not a traditional sugar skull, but a brilliant mix of cultures, and a fine piece of silver art.

Just 3,000 of these will be struck, and like most of Today’s portfolio, will likely be keenly priced more as a bullion piece than a high-end coin. It comes encapsulated. What a fantastic piece!

This series is called the Chess Crown Series, and the two new issues, which follow the Pawn, Bishop, Knight, and Rook, round out the pieces with the games big guns, the King and Queen. Each of these one ounce silver pieces is fully stackable, and is themed around a particular piece on the chess board. They are mildly curved horizontally, but straight vertically, and as a result, can be placed in a very neat circular display, which you can see below.

About the only oddity is that the display will hold eight pieces, but there are obviously only six different pieces in a chess set. It could just be that it holds eight because that’s what is needed for a complete circle, or they could have some other pieces planned to fill it out. We’ve reached out for more information. Whatever the case, this has always been a very unique concept, is relatively affordable, and has been well executed.

This antique-finished, one-ounce silver bar is the second in the Legendary Warrior Women series, following an impressive Valkyries debut last year. While the Valkyrie was strictly a bullion bar, albeit a limited mintage and slabbed one, this year’s entry into the series is a full coin, being Samoan denominated on the reverse face.

The subject here is a French legend who’s achieved much wider recognition, amazingly so given she was born over six centuries ago. Joan of Arc was born around 6 January 1412, and at aged 16 she petitioned to meet uncrowned Charles VII at the Royal
Court. Here she persuaded Charles, through claims of visions from God,
to let her accompany the army being sent to relieve Orléans. The campaign was successful, and she joined the kings inner circle, inspiring other wins. However, she was captured in 1430, tried as a heretic, and executed. She was posthumously declared innocent in 1456.

The design here, while hardly what you would say was a typical depiction, is beautiful, capturing the spirit rather than the reality of the infamous Maid of Orleans. There seems to be some manga influence in the artwork, especially the very non-French medieval sword, but it’s such a ‘girl-boss’ pose it’s hard not to like it. The background behind her is filled with fleur-de-lis style patterns, and some terrific banners, including one holding the bars’ composition. The obverse remains the same as before.

Also unchanged is the slab it comes in, but the mintage has dropped from 2,500 pieces, to just 1,000 of them. It’s a fine looking addition to this series of relatively affordable bars.