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New Zealand Mint Launches Kings of the Continent Series
On February 3
the New Zealand Mint (www.nzmint.com),
which produces a wide variety of modern world coins, launched a new series of
silver proof coins called Kings of the Continent. This series of coins will feature engraved
and colorized designs of the largest of the African carnivores seen in their
natural habitats.
The series
debuts with the 2016 Lion coin that shows a color image of a snarling male
African Lion standing proudly against a backdrop of southern African
grasslands. The color image is a
close-up of the lion’s face.
The term
African lion is used to refer collectively to several subspecies of lions that
are found in Africa. They currently are
found in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia, but previously were also seen in North
Africa and Southwest Asia, where they became extinct.
The male
lion is best known for its long mane, and its face is one of the most widely recognized
symbols of the animal kingdom. Some male
lions weigh more than 550 pounds, making them the second-largest big cat after
the tiger.
There are
several other recent coin series that features lions, but the art work on the
new NZM lion coin is an especially stunning and impactful contemporary design
that really captures the strength and majesty of these amazing animals.
Each coin is
made of 1 ounce of .999 fine silver, is struck in proof, and has a diameter of
40 millimeters. The mintage is limited
to just 5,000 coins.
They are
housed in a black display case that slides out of the outer packaging.
The coins
are issued under the legal authority of Niue, as are numerous collector coins
produced by various world mints on their behalf.
They can be
purchased soon from The Coin Shoppe in Canada (www.thecoinshoppe.ca), which carries an
extensive selection of the latest world coins and is a distributor for the
Royal Canadian Mint, Perth Mint, and several other major world mints, and from other
companies. The Coin Shoppe ships to the
U.S. from Niagara Falls.
The New
Zealand Mint is perhaps best known for its Star Wars and Disney coin series,
which are popular not just with coin collectors but also have crossover appeal
with fans of those franchises.
The lion
issue will likely appeal to animal lovers and modern world coin
enthusiasts.