There have been some outstanding designs in Mint of MK’s portfolio, and they’re often grouped into some quite ambitious series, with tiny mintages, like 9 Dragons, and the Twelve Constellations ranges, both now complete. One of those still ongoing is Magic Series, of which the coin we’re looking at is the fourth, of seven. The first issue was Magic Mushrooms (we loved that one!), followed by The Witch, and then Morgan La Fay.

The fourth coin is called Fairy in Magicland, and easily maintains the high standard of the series to date. The reverse depicts a Fairy, resting serenely, surrounded by lotus flowers around her feet, and woodland foliage in the background. Her hair is subtly gilded, and her outspread wings glow when a UV light-source is aimed at the coin. The UV glow even reflects on the water, a terrific touch. It’s all beautifully done, and free of intrusive inscriptions.

The obverse is equally beautiful, depicting a closer look at the fairy surrounded by leaves and blooms, and resting peacefully. MK have done some stunning female depictions over the last year, and this is up there with the best of them. We like that the gilded hair isn’t overpowering, which overly shiny gold can sometimes do. A gorgeous release in what is building into a fine, and varied set of seven coins.

The colourfully adorned, two-ounce cast silver bar program from Germania Mint adds another producer to its portfolio, with US dealer Glines & Rhodes kicking off a new series. Taping into the greatly increased fascination with Cyberpunk, the first coin mixes that futuristic style with the ancient Greek legend of Cassandra, the prophetess goddess from the Trojan story.

We’ve covered quite a few of these bars, so regular readers will know what to expect with regard to the specification, so these differentiate themselves based on the artwork. It’s classic cyberpunk in the background, but there’s also a neat mix of that and the old Greek depictions of their beautiful goddesses, with Cassandra. It’s all very vibrant and futuristic. Packaging appears to be the same card box that mark out this range, and the mintage is capped at 500 pieces.

Germania Mint continues to power its way through the many facets of Northern European mythology, with their latest series aimed at the many artefacts that had an important place in the ancient stories. The Norse and Germanic stories are particularly replete with these items, mainly weapons, but often more esoteric items.

The first issue is Gjallarhorn, used by Heimdall, the guardian of the rainbow bridge, Bifrost, in Asgard. He will blow the horn when Ragnarök comes to the Nine Realms, and the noise will be heard through all of them, calling warriors to fight against the forces of chaos. The coin depicts the horn, differently engraved on the reverse and obverse faces, but with a consistent, runic style.

The engravings depict different events from Ragnarök, including the arrow that felled Baldur, and Loki’s ship. The background carries a stylised depiction of the branches of the Norse world tree, Yggdrasil. The engravings are a little hard to make out in the official images, as they’re quite low-res.

There are two variants, with a premium one-ounce silver bullion coin having a 5k mintage. The enhanced variant doubles the weight, and adds a varied range of metal plating, incorporating gold, ruthenium, and palladium. That one tops out at just 500 pieces, and is our favourite of the pair, with the black plating and selective gilding creating an enhanced level of contrast. A superb debut for a series that could run for some time.

Lithuanian photographer, Andrius Burba has an unusual way of looking at the animal kingdom. Getting animals to look down through a glass panel is hard enough, but getting the amazing images he does, is a work of genius. Underlook started with cats and dogs, for the obvious reasons, but has moved on to far bigger animals of late, including some phenomenal horse photography.

The first coin in this series debuted last year, and featured a cat. For the 2025 issue, we get the next logical progression from that, the dog. While these are relatively simple designs, they are extremely effective in getting across the Underlook concept, managing to convey the visual style in every regard except the actual glass floor. High-relief, via smartminting, is used to mimic the body of the dog sitting raised above its feet, despite being inverted. The colour is subtle, and realistic, with CIT not succumbing to garish colours.

These are fun coins, and a quick look at the Underlook website tells us there are many fascinating subjects for future releases. The horses in his portfolio are amazing. A fine realisation of an innovative photographer’s work.

The Perth Mint has, for almost a decade now, been issuing a loose range of esoteric coins, with an antique finish, and some subtle high relief. The signature feature has been a gimmicky central insert, ranging from a compass, through lunar baubles, to a Rubik’s Cube. It isn’t a series per se, but we collected them all together under the banner ‘Esoteric Centres Antiqued’ for one of our Coin Series Profiles, so check that out for a look at an odd range.

The latest coin has the Alicanto as a theme, a magical creature from Chilean mythology, which is known for, appropriately enough, an appetite for precious metals. It lives in the Atacama Desert, and glows at night, but will go dark if it senses it is being followed. It’s depicted in the reverse face border flowing around the centre, designed by Sean Rogers.

That centre is very similar to the 2019 Golden Treasures of Ancient Egypt, and 2021 Tears of the Moon issues, being a perspex dome filled with a clear liquid, which I believe is mineral oil. Floating in that oil is a mix of gold and silver particles, the first time both metals have appeared together, rather than singly. This can be seen through both sides of the coin.

It comes in some very nice packaging, heavily themed, and allowing easy examination of the dome even with the lid closed. An attractive enough coin, it’s a fine addition to a range aimed at the more adventurous collector.