The big lunars continue to appear, and with the Perth Mint, Royal Mint, and Numistrade launching their new Year of the Horse coins this week, it seems fitting that the Royal Australian Mint would join them. The horse is the sixth in the mints Lunar Investment Series, one of the prettiest ranges in this genre.

The horse is another fine design, undertaken by Bronwyn Scott, who has designed every release in the series to date. As is the current trend, the depiction of the horse is a realistic, rather than stylised one, and a fine one at that. This series designs have always excelled in taking full advantage of the circular edge of the coin, and that’s the case here, with the animal, and the floral background, curving around the coin.

The obverse is common to the series, except for the ring of twelve lunar animals in the border. These don’t change in look, but they rotate anti-clockwise, so that the correct animal occupies the top position. A nice touch. There are only two variants in this range, with a one-ounce 0.999 silver, and a one-ounce 0.9999 gold. A great addition to what we think is turning out to be a banner year for lunar coins.