May sees the Perth Mint lean heavily into its various pop-culture franchises, with its long-running James Bond range getting a boost with a new mini character coin, alongside additions to the classic ‘Legacy’ series, showcasing the various actors to take on the role. A new Phantom coin is a rare treat for fans of the superhero genre, so it’s great the mint has done such a sterling job with it. All three are available to buy right now.

A classic of comicdom since its early days, The Phantom was once as popular as Superman and Batman are today, being read by over 100 million people daily, from the almost 600 newspapers his stories were syndicated into. The character has seen a bit of interest in the numismatic world over the last few years, primarily at the Perth Mint, and including a bullion coin, but nothing as good as this.

The Phantom is picked out in perfect colour, with the rest of the coin antique finished. The classic logo is there, the jungle setting, and his iconic Skull Cave, so a near perfect encapsulation of the superhero crime fighter. Even the presentation looks top-notch. Not the most popular of comic book heroes these days, it’s nevertheless one that collectors in that field will know very well, and we can’t imagine them being displeased with the mints efforts here.

Very similar in concept to the juggernaut that is the New Zealand Mint’s ‘Chibi’ series, Minted Mini’s likewise takes popular culture characters, and gives them the Japanese-style super-deformed treatment, basically inflating the head to gigantic proportions. The mint has issued three coins in The Simpson’s franchise, but James Bond is a new addition, and looks as good as anything issued previously.

Featuring the suave spy in a tuxedo, and carrying a pistol, it’s exactly how we picture the super-spy in our minds – a first class representation given the style. The packaging is also very neat, making display a doddle. There’s little not to like here.

The mint’s journey through the James Bond films continues with this third release, featuring who I personally think is a hugely underrated Bond, Timothy Dalton. The third in the Perth Mint’s ‘James Bond Legacy’ series, these are simply designed affairs, carrying a classically posed Bond, with the names of the movies the specific actor appeared in, placed around them, all done in the original style.

Dalton only starred in the two movies, so the background is pretty sparse, but the pose is a little more expansive, filling out some of it. As with the prior Roger Moore and Sean Connery issues, there will be a 1/4 oz gold variant for those with deeper pockets, although we’ve rarely been fans of coloured gold coins here.