The Mint of Gdańsk debuts the third of its Sea Battles silver coins with Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar

Polish producer, Mint of Gdańsk, is back with some new issues, and the one we’ll be having a look at today is the third in their biannual ‘Sea Battles’ range. The series debuted in 2020 with a coin featuring the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE, and continued with an unusual effort in late 2022, that depicted the 1942 Battle of Midway between the US and Japanese navies.

This third coin heads back in time to 1805, to what is without question, one of the most famous naval battles in history, The Battle of Trafalgar, between the British under Admiral Horatio Nelson, and a combined French & Spanish fleet. It ended in a comprehensive victory for the Royal Navy, and an end to Napoleon’s dream of invading the British Isles. It also ended with the death of Nelson,

The coin depicts the battle in full swing, with cannons firing, men in the water, and ships of the line in close proximity. It’s a great looking scene, in our view. Like previous issues, there’s an adornment, and here, it’s a ‘rope’ running around the edge of the coin on the reverse face, which is quite appropriate. It’s an improvement over the propeller on the last issue, which we didn’t feel worked that well.

Another huge plus point for the Sea Battles series is the excellent use of the obverse face to depict a map of the battle, and that remains the case here. A terrific use of the space. The effigy of Queen Elizabeth II has given way to the Public Seal of Niue, and the inscribed issue details are suitably unobtrusive.

This is a classic two-ounce coin, and comes boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity. The mintage of 300 is nice and tight, and overall, a well realised and attractive piece for the naval history fan, and our favourite in the series to date. Available to order now, take time to check out the excellent images we got for this one, always a good sign the mint is confident in the quality of its products.