Melbourne Coins follows up its debut Ouija coin release with one deep in the bowels of Ancient Egyptian mysticism

Also called the Spirit Board, the Ouija Board can trace its roots back to early 12th century China, where it was known as Fuji planchette writing, and used to commune with the spirit world. It wasn’t until post-civil war America, that it became more widely known, as the usual predatory lowlifes came out of the woodwork to prey on those missing family members lost during the war. As you’d expect, their use is considered wrong by most of the world’s religions, but that hasn’t stopped it inspiring various literary, and popular culture endeavours over the past few decades.

The Ouija itself is, in its basic form, a flat board, on which is marked the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0-9, and the words ‘YES’ and ‘NO’. Using a planchette (a heart-shaped token, usually of wood), which was often richly decorated, participants place their fingers on it, and are ‘compelled’ to move it amongst the numbers and letters to spell out words and phrases, ostensibly by spirits answering questions put to them. It’s all nonsense, of course, and like all things of this ilk, it was commercialised, and is sold as a curio these days.

2025 OUIJA BOARD PLANCHETTE

The first coin in this series was rooted very firmly in our modern understanding of the concept, and it’s correct to say that the Ancient Egyptians did not use it. That isn’t to say the basic idea was not tinkered with. Senet was a board game with nods to speaking to the afterlife, and Barque Oracles were also used similarly, except utilising a small wooden ship (a barque is a shrine on a ship), ‘influenced’ by the priest holding it, to determine the will of the gods. Like Ouija, these are all forms of Artificial Swarm Intelligence, a collective decision-making process, whereby the group almost subconsciously decides the route taken. We like the logic jump here.

The coin features a strong Ancient Egyptian influence. The reverse face uses the hole in the coin to cover the space the priest’s face would be, adding to the mysticism, with crossed hands emerging from a robe, holding the Eye of Horus, and a decorated candle. A pyramid fills the backdrop, with the traditional Ouija YES and NO marked on it. The obverse has the hole used to fill the space occupied by an amulet, and the two hands now open a robe to reveal the issue inscriptions. The whole thing is a clever amalgamation of Pharaonic and Ouija tropes.

The packaging, that was designed by a Melbourne artist, doubles as a full Ouija board when opened up. Its design matches the coin in utilising Egyptian imagery, so if you fancy a quick conversation with your uncle Imhotep, this is your way. As before, just 199 will be struck, and it’s available to order now, with delivery in January.

DENOMINATIONCOMPOSITIONDIMENSIONSFINISHMINTAGE
2,000 Francs CFA (Cameroon)62.2 g of 0.999 silver49.45 x 60.0 mmAntique199