Murderous Moggies weekend: Korean Tiger series enjoys its second 1oz silver release with a roaring design

One of the hottest bullion series around at the moment, KOMSCO’s Chiwoo Cheonwang, and Zi:Sin series have been attracting collectors with their excellent designs and rare subjects. For us though, it’s the Korean Tiger series that we like the most. Only two designs old in silver, the coins have exhibited artistry showing a mastery of composition and feline anatomy second to none in the bullion market. The third design, and the second annual one-ounce release, is almost ready to ship.

A picture of a tiger that few of us would like to experience in real life, it’s very well detailed and very impactful compared to many of the comparatively staid designs on other coins. You don’t look at the tiger here and think of patting it on the head – it’s definitely more of a change of pants moment. Just the coin title and weight are inscribed on the reverse face, and both have been well integrated into the design without diminishing it in any way.

The obverse remains unchanged, but it’s also one that has clearly had time spent on it. A map of Korea formed from letters of the Korean alphabet, with the largest letters spelling out the name of the country. The issuer and composition are inscribed here, and there’s also a cool lenticular effect that displays Ag or 999 depending on how you hold the coin. You often see this effect using a kind of printed plastic, but it’s quite unusual to see it struck into bare metal so effectively. The mint has plans for widening the use of the effect to perhaps encompassing whole background fields. We’re looking forward to seeing that finished article.

Last years coin, which you can see further down, had a mintage of 30,000 pieces, but this 2019 coin drops that to just 20,000. It’s a desirable round and one that is currently reasonably priced with regards to the premium over spot. Scheduled to ship at the end of July, we can see this one being very popular. Hopefully we can get some better images soon, and perhaps some info on any potential 10oz issue for 2019. Produced with, and distributed by Coins Today Korea.

KOREAN TIGER SERIES

It was in 2016 that the series first appeared, but only in gold. A decent, if unadventurous design gave way in 2017 to something a bit more dramatic, but still missing that spark to lift it up. That came in 2018 with the simultaneous launch of the silver coin in tandem. A full-body tiger with some flora in the foreground was a much better design in our view – a genuinely attractive item.

Also appearing last year was a ten-ounce silver coin sporting an 80 mm diameter and a very limited 2,000 coin mintage. It even carried an all-new design featuring one of these powerful animals drinking from a stream. Again, it was well posed, anatomically excellent, and filled the coin face perfectly. Definitely one worth seeking out.