The Berlin State Mint sets a humorous sign in times of the Bitcoin boom: The coin producer from the German capital has designed a medal in bitcoin optics. The official press release states: “Create your own unique experience with the Bitcoin from the German capital – with this Bitcoin you can do everything except shopping.” It’s because the bitcoin of the Berlin Mint is not money – and the Berlin Mint smugly points out that the medal has “almost as few...
After the surprising success of their swan silver coin, the Perth Mint follows up with a special collector’s edition in proof quality. The proof swan will be available in gold and silver. The collectors coins are based on the bullion design. The swan actually planned as an investment coin, but turned into a collectors item instantly because of the low mintage of only 25.000 pieces in BU quality. The proof version will be struck in silver with only 2,500 pieces and in gold only 5,000...
Queen Elizabeth II is a head of state who is breaking records almost every week – besides to her 65th throne jubilee, the British Queen also celebrates the 70th anniversary of her wedding with Prince Philip. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary with the Duke of Edinburgh, the Royal Mint issues several special coins. Although the metal selection is at first sight misleading (Platinum is actually for the 55th wedding anniversary and gold for the 50th anniversary), the Royal Mint has...
The Chinese Lunar Calendar is one of the most popular topics for bullion coins in the world. The lunars from Australia are particularly popular, but many other countries have expanded their product range in the past years and have launched their own Lunar series – including Somaliland, which tranferred its minting license to a German dealer. After the series first appeared in 2010, the motif for the year 2017 has now been tresented. A rooster can be seen in a true-to-nature representation...
The employees of the Scottsdale Mint apparently have a year full of work: Shortly after the release of the “Deathstalker Scorpion” silver coin, the privately operaed mint from the United States of America is now following up with another product and presents another bullion coin: “The Barbados Trident” is the first of a four-part coin series in collaboration with the Caribbean State of Barbados. The trident is a sign of power and power, and is primarily associated with...
After only three years, the “Silverback Gorilla” has already become one of the most popular “agency emressions” in the field of silver bullion coins. The “Scottsdale Mint” has received a lot of praise for its design of the gorilla especially in 2017 – and soon Gorilla friends will get even more of their money’s worth. The private Scottsdale Mint from the US-american state of Arizona is now introducing the 2017 design as an extra- version with the...
The hurricane “Irma” is currently sweeping through the Caribbean and takes course on Florida – the natural catastrophe of category 5 is not without a trace in the world of coins: As the British Pobjoy Mint announced in a press release, the hurricane moved over the British Virgin Islands on Wednesday, 6 September . The country is one of the most important partners of the Pobjoy Mint: “As the official mint of the British Virgin Islands our thoughts and prayers are with the...
On August 23 2017, the German Federal Government revealed the first design for a new coin series. For the first time, a gold coin series of “Musical Instruments” will be published in 2018. The 50-euro gold coin “String Bass” (german: “Kontrabass”) will be issued in the second half of 2018 according to a press release issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance. The artist Erich Ott from Munich is responsible for the design. On the minimalist side, the...
In Germany, professional grading and the long-term storage in special holders (“slabs”) are still facing a lot of criticism, but services from commercial service providers such as NGC or PCGS have found their place in other markets like the USA and they are gaining in importance here. But normally collectors do not get to see what happens behind the scenes of grading services. For the 30th birthday, the American grading provider “NGC” (Numismatic Guarantee Corporation)...
Bad news for friends of Australian silver coins: After the sudden termination of the popular “Stockhorse” series of the Perth Mint, the second Australian coin producer scraps a popular series before the planned date: the “Saltwater Crocodile” silver coins will not appear as planned in 2017. Originally the series was supposed to appear for twelve years with one edition per year. The saltwater crocodile series was a joint project of a German precious metal dealer with the...