Star Wars Classic launches its second design of 2018 and it’s another of the evil pantheon, Darth Maul

Regular readers will know that Classic Star Wars is one of our favourite movie-themed coin ranges being released in recent years and as this New Zealand Mint series has now hit its twelfth release, we guess you do to. We think the core appeal of this range lies in its simplicity. There are no modifications done to the strike – no colour or gilding, for example. The designs aren’t covered with inscriptions and the coins aren’t presented in gimmicky packaging. What you get is a well realised proof finish coin, struck to a high standard and packaged equally so. They have all the hallmarks of something people will be handing down to their Star Wars loving grandkids in fifty years time.

As for Star Wars, it’s a movie phenomenon and whether you like the movies or not (let’s be honest, the franchise reputation rests on a small number of great films amidst a larger quantity of poor ones), there is a whole universe of interesting characters running through them. With this in mind, you can see the NZ Mint isn’t short of subjects and even after twelve releases there are still quite a few popular enough to carry a coin release.

This time out and for the second time this year, it’s the turn of one of the baddies to take centre stage, following chubby blobster, Jabba the Hutt. Despite appearing mainly in the less well recieved prequel trilogy, Darth Maul had a look and presence almost guaranteed to strike a chord with the fans. Highly distinctive in appearance, Maul is a good choice and the pose depicted on the coin is one recognisable to fans.

No changes on the format choice – a one-ounce silver coin continues to be the most popular selection and there are one-ounce and quarter-ounce gold coins for the higher end. Unlike the Jabba coin, the small gold coin keeps the same artwork as its larger brethren. All variants carry the effigy of Darth Elizabeth on the obverse. Packaging is clean and elegant. A simple black shipper of high quality holds a black coin box in the case of the silver coin, and a wooden one in the case of the gold. Both are solid, although we’d love to see a high-gloss black box for all formats as it just seems so much more in keeping with the franchise aesthetic than wood does. All come with a certificate and all are available to buy later today. Several of our sponsors sell these, so getting one online is easy and means you don’t have to get the Death Star out of the garage.