You won’t lose Art Mints latest coin. A unique homage to Nikola Tesla brings added shine to silver

Nikola Tesla, born on July 10, 1856, in Smiljan (now part of Croatia), was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, and physicist who significantly influenced the development of modern electrical systems and technology. Tesla’s early career saw him working for the Continental Edison Company in Paris, but he later immigrated to the United States in 1884.

Tesla’s contributions to the field of electrical engineering are monumental. He is best known for his development of alternating current (AC) electrical systems, which form the basis of the modern power distribution grid. His rivalry with Thomas Edison, a proponent of direct current (DC), culminated in the “War of the Currents,” with Tesla’s AC ultimately prevailing.

Throughout his career, Tesla secured numerous patents for inventions ranging from the Tesla coil to the induction motor. His visionary ideas extended beyond electricity to include wireless communication and renewable energy sources. Tesla’s Wardenclyffe Tower, intended for wireless transmission of power and communication, remains an iconic symbol of his forward-thinking concepts.

Despite his groundbreaking work, Tesla struggled financially, and his later years were marked by relative obscurity. He died on January 7, 1943, in New York City, leaving behind a legacy that continues to shape the modern technological landscape. Today, Nikola Tesla is celebrated as a pioneer in electrical engineering and a symbol of innovation and scientific ingenuity.

Tesla has been the subject of numerous coins over the last half decade or so, most notably a superb shaped coin from Precious Metal Collectors, and a series of bullion coins from, appropriately enough, Serbia, via the Serbian Mint. The same portrait of the man is used almost universally, and it appears again here, on Art Mints latest issue. However, as you would expect from a producer that likes to dabble in the unusual, this coin has a quite unique twist to it.

Art Mint have added a hand to the portrait, and in that hand Tesla is seen holding a bulb. A little unusual if that were all it was, but in a nod to Tesla’s genius, they’ve included a mini Tesla Coil, which will light up that bulb when the coin is placed close to it, and create a plasma ball. There is no power source in the coin itself, and the coil looks to be powered by either USB, or four AAA batteries.

The coil, pictured above, is included with the coin, and is a glass sphere mounted atop a plastic body. We haven’t seen it working yet, but it likely looks quite striking, and having a coin light up when placed next to it is certainly very unique. The high-relief image of Tesla looks to be very well realised as well.

The obverse is quite superb. Depicting an image of Tesla reading “Theoria Philosophiae Naturalis’ by the 18th century ‘physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, theologian, Jesuit priest, and polymath’ Roger Joseph Boscovich, himself a mind on Tesla’s level. Tesla sits in front of the spiral coil of a high-frequency transformer of his own design, that was sited at East Houston Street, 46, New York. On the coin, it looks outstanding, probably our favourite part of all.

A clever, and spot-on celebration of Tesla and his work, marking the 80th anniversary of his death, this is a two-ounce 0.999 silver coin, antique-finished, and with a mintage of just 300 pieces. Available to order now.