Time for our last bullion coin roundup of 2021, and there’s new ones in gold and silver from around the world

After trialling a bullion coin round-up in the same vein as our Film/TV coin ones, we’re going to stick with it, as it allows me to cover more without getting swamped, and will hopefully help avoid the situation where some coins fall through the gaps because our focus is elsewhere. A decent mix again, with animals, some in lunar form, taking the lions share of space, along with a Disney coin. We do have profiles of the series that some of these sit in available, and we’ve added those relevant coins shown here to them.

2022 RWANDAN LUNAR TIGER (BH Mayer)

The latest in the unusual ‘stained-glass’ style series of Rwandan Lunar coins, the tiger has an unusual look which reminds us of the pose we saw in the mosaics at Pompeii a few years ago, although in that case, of dogs. We like this one, with its unusual incuse-strike, much like the similar Nautical Ounce, and the long-running African Ounce series, and it’s the sixth in a series that started back in 2017 with a chicken.

In a pattern you’ll see a lot of here, the range is made up of a one-ounce silver and a one-ounce gold. The former has an unlimited mintage (although we don’t imagine final numbers will be massively high), and the latter caps out at a lucky (for some) 188 pieces.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
50 Francs (Rwanda) 0.999 silver 31.1 g 40.0 mm B / UNC Unlimited NO / NO
100 Francs (Rwanda) 0.999 gold 31.1 g 40.0 mm B / UNC 188 NO / NO

2022 BHUTAN YEAR OF THE TIGER (Singapore Mint)

It isn’t often we get to see a new bullion coin from Bhutan, but their latest lunar coin, struck at the Singapore Mint is available in both one-ounce, and half-ounce silver forms. The Tiger design is heavily stylised, something the mint describes as cloud-like, and is quite unique in a market awash with a more realistic animal portrayal

The obverse has the Bhutan emblem in its centre and there’s the country name in English and Bhutanese in the surrounding border.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
100 Ngultrum (Bhutan) 0.999 silver 15.55 g 32.0 mm B / UNC 50,000 NO / NO
200 Ngultrum (Bhutan) 0.999 silver 31.1 g 40.7 mm B / UNC 50,000 NO / NO

2021 CARIBBEAN OCTOPUS (APMEX)

This APMEXclusive is quite a pretty coin and the latest in the Caribbean Silver series, following such creatures as a seahorse and a pelican. Depicting an octopus, it’s a nice rendering, and the scattering of stones and flora makes for a decent backdrop. Quite a low profile series, but one perhaps deserving of a bit more attention.

As well as the main one-ounce 0.999 silver coin, there’s also a pretty cool half-gram minigold as well, which, despite its tiny 11 mm diameter, holds on to a lot of the detail inherent in its bigger sibling. A coin issued for Barbados, the obverse has that island nations coat of arms in its centre.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$1 (Barbados) 0.999 silver 31.1 g 38.6 mm B / UNC 7,500 NO / NO
$10 (Barbados) 0.999 gold 0.5 g 11.0 mm B / UNC 999 NO / NO

2021 MICKEY MOUSE CHRISTMAS (NZ Mint/APMEX)

A regular fixture of the bullion calendar for the last few years, the Disney Christmas coin returns with the third Mickey Mouse Merry Christmas release. These are aimed at a very specific market, of course, but they seem to be popular.

As with many releases here, the range consists of a gold and a silver one ounce version, the former with a mintage of 100 pieces and the latter with 15,000. Both are supplied encapsulated, and both have been added to our profile of the series.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
$2 NZD (Niue) 0.999 silver 31.1 g 40.54 mm B / UNC 15.000 NO / NO
$250 NZD (Niue) 0.9999 gold 31.1 g 32.0 mm B / UNC 100 NO / NO

2021 MANDALA WARTHOG (APMEX)

An unusual series, this one depicts African animals that have been built up using mandala-style patterns. They’re relatively simple affairs, but quite cleverly done. This warthog design is pretty neat, and it’s an animal that doesn’t appear on coins often.

Two one-ounce coins make up the range, one of 0.999 silver, and one of 0.9999 gold. Numbers on both are quite low, especially the gold. They’re an APMEXclusive, although a few other dealers do pick them up from there.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
5,000 Francs CFA (Chad) 0.999 silver 31.1 g 39.0 mm B / UNC 10.000 NO / NO
50,000 Francs CFA (Chad) 0.9999 gold 31.1 g 30.0 mm B / UNC 100 NO / NO

2021 MANDALA ANTELOPE (APMEX)

The other Mandala Animal release is this antelope coin. Apart from the choice of animal, everything is the same as the warthog issue. The obverse has the coat of arms of the Republic of Chad on it, which looks decent.

We actually have a profile of this series up which you might want to check out, as it’s already up to seven issues.

DENOMINATION COMPOSITION WEIGHT DIAMETER FINISH MINTAGE BOX / COA
5,000 Francs CFA (Chad) 0.999 silver 31.1 g 39.0 mm B / UNC 10.000 NO / NO
50,000 Francs CFA (Chad) 0.9999 gold 31.1 g 30.0 mm B / UNC 100 NO / NO