This first coin came as a bit of a surprise. AllCollect have worked with CIT many times in the past, issuing special versions of some of CIT’s finest designs, especially, for me at least, the kilo versions of CIT’s gorgeous Evolution of Life fossil coins (although they’ve only done 2 of the 10 releases). They also used the ‘Trapped’ style for a neat Shroud of Turin coin, so it’s been an exceptionally fine partnership.

Silver Burst has been a three-ounce silver coin series that debuted in 2021, and CIT have issued five of them to date. AllCollect’s first issue in this style is an all-new design, and I have to say, is the best yet. The dynamics of the tiger bursting through the shards is off-the-charts gorgeous, with the depiction of the animal just about perfect. The shards, which have overpowered a couple of the earlier designs, are a little more restrained here, and that works in the design’s favour. The comparatively shard-free right side is the perfect counterbalance, reinforcing the idea that the tiger is jumping between spaces. By comparison, the obverse is a simple unthemed one, but of note is the issuance for Mongolia, rather than the Cook Islands, which has been the case for the earlier three-ounce coins (we don’t expect those to change).

The packaging consists of a ‘floating’ latex frame with a themed insert, which I suspect will have the certificate of authenticity on it. This will be a pricey beast, of course, especially with silver going ballistic, but if you can afford it, what a beautiful piece to own. I’m doing the lottery tonight, and I’m going to treat myself to one if I win… Only 250 will be struck.

The second coin is one that Allcollect are touting as the first in a new series called ‘Soft Edge’. The standout feature here is the eschewing of a standard sharply-defined rim, and replacing it with a rounded one, which continues to take some of the minted texture and design along with it. To be honest, it’s a nice look, but hardly ground-breaking. Fortunately, there’s more to this coin than that.

It’s a beautiful depiction of a leopard, and the use of gilding and colour together is quite sublime. Without question in my mind, that rolled edge is an enhancement, but it’s really down to the artwork and the finishing why this coin is so good. The only downside for me is the lack of the gilded finish on the obverse, which seems a lost opportunity.

The coin is an ounce in weight, and comes in a frame display, which we’ll assume is similar to the one on the tiger coin above. The mintage is capped at 750 pieces, which seems a decent number. A fine design, we’ll be intrigued to see what the next coin will look like.

This one has, at best, a vague association with the big cats, having only a name, and a picture of a Lion on the packaging, but we’ve spotlighted the minigold market all week, so here we are. It certainly helps that this coin has such a great design. It depicts a lunar landscape, upon which is a crater in the shape of a symbolic heart. Simple, but it looks terrific, in my opinion.

The obverse of the coin has cats of its own, with a pair of Black Panthers prominently displayed on the coat-of-arms of Gabon. It’s packaged in a credit-card style card, although it looks a little bigger than that. Emblazoned across the front is a touching drawing of a male lion and a cub, with a certificate of authenticity on the back, which is quite common with this type of coin. It’s quite large for the weight, with most of these topping out at 11 mm in diameter, this one hits 14 mm, a bigger increase than you might think. I like this one.