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.