The Incan legend of Mama Quilla is given life on a striking new Perth Mint silver coin with a silver filled dome

The Perth Mint has long issued a selection of two-ounce antique-finished silver coins with some quite unusual themes and centre details. While not strictly a series, we did round them all up into a Coin Series Profile under the name ‘Esoteric Centres Series’, because they all followed a similar concept, if not a consistent theme.

One of those coins, released in 2019, had a perspex dome in the middle that was filled with gold particles and themed around the Ancient Egyptian civilisation. This latest coin is extremely similar in both concept and execution to that one, switching out Egypt for the Mesoamerican Incan civilisation, and the gold for silver. The latter is quite clever in execution, as the gold was a good symbol for the Sun on the first coin, and silver does a fine job of representing the Moon.

The outer border of the coin is filled with Incan iconography, with snakes and the distinctive personage of Mama Quilla that adorns art and architecture of the period, taking pride of place. The perspex dome, proud on the reverse and flush on the obverse, is filled with silver suspended in mineral oil, and on the evidence of the official images at least, does a great job as the moon.

The obverse has a ring of Incan crosses, called ‘Chakana’ surrounding the perspex window, as well as all the usual issue inscriptions, and the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. The box for the coin looks terrific. Shaped like Mama Quilla’s head and with a drawer that slides out holding the coin, it;s a quirky and attractive touch that enhances the coins appeal. Available to order today for $259.00 AUD, it has a mintage of 2,500 pieces, quite high, but at least you should have little trouble picking one up.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

This stunning Incan themed coin features a dome insert containing silver particles surrounded by a representation of the Incan goddess, Mama Quilla. Goddess of the Moon, Mama Quilla was an important deity for the people of the Inca Empire which flourished in the Andes region of South America from the 12 century AD until the Spanish conquest of the 1500s. In Inca, mythology, she was the daughter of Viracocha, the creator god, and wife and sister of the sun god Inti. Legend also credited her as the mother of Manco Capa and Mama Ocllo, founders of Cusco, capital city of the Inca empire.

Revered for preventing the world falling into complete darkness, Mama Quilla was believed to shed silver tears that fell to earth and could be mined as precious metal.