Beautiful World Coins

Spirou, Tintin and Asterix on Commemorative French Silver Coins

The French Mint celebrates the 70th anniversary of Spirou and Le Journal de Spirou magazine with this 2008 commemorative 1.5 euro silver proof coin. Spirou, a young bellboy, is the character originally created by Robert Velter (1909-1991) for the launch of Le Journal de Spirou in 1938. This well-known magazine is a reference in the comics world, renowned for regularly launching new comics characters and also for its longevity. The obverse features the logo of the 70th anniversary of Spirou.

In 2007, the French Mint issued a series of commemorative 1.5 euro proof coins based on comics and mythical european comics heroes. The three Asterix 1.5 euro coins - The Magic Potion, The Banquet, and The Return from Hunting - are shown below with their common obverse. The three Tintin 1.5 euro coins - Tintin and Professor Calculus, Tintin and Captain Haddock, and Tintin and Chang - are all colored and also shown below with their common obverse.

I'm already looking forward to the next commemorative coin in this series: the 2009 Lucky Luke commemorative 1.5 euro silver proof coin.

The Spirou coin:

Mint: Paris

Year: 2008

Face value: 1.5 Euro

Finish: Proof

Composition: 90% silver

Size: 37 mm

Weight: 22.2 grams

Mintage: 10,000

The $15 Playing Cards Silver Coins from Canada

The Royal Canadian Mint recently issued the first of a series of rectangular-shaped coins commemorating the playing card money used by the governor in the 17th and 18th centuries when there was a coin shortage. The colony was months away from France, isolated by winter ice and the Atlantic Ocean, so everything was scarce, including coins! Historic records show that cards were cut into halves or quarters and had their corners clipped to reflect different values.

The 2008 15 dollar Jack of Hearts coin is the first of a new series. The 2008 Queen of Spades will follow, then the 2009 Ten of Spades and, finally, the 2009 King of Hearts will end this colorful and unique series of playing cards silver coins.

Mint: Ottawa

Year: 2008

Face value: 15 Dollars

Finish: Proof, with colored reverse and selective gold-plating on the edge

Composition: 92.5% Silver, 7.5% Copper

Size: 49.8 mm x 28.6 mm (Vertical)

Weight: 31.56 grams

Mintage: 25,000

Alice in Wonderland on two Silver Coins from Belarus

The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus issued in 2007 the two latest coins in the Belarus and the World Community Series. They both celebrate Alice, the well-known character from two books written by the English author Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898): Alice in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass.

This series of oxidized coins started in 2005 with The Snow Queen (with a dark blue crystal), The Little Prince (with a white crystal), Symon the Musician (with a dark orange crystal), and The Stone Flower (with a yellow crystal). In 2006, the Mint followed with The Twelve Months (with an amber crystal) and The Thousand and One Nights (with a blue crystal). All the coins in this series are wonderfully detailed and share the same obverse, featuring a boy and a girl sitting on the moon under a starry sky, holding an opened book.

Mint: Warsaw (Poland)

Year: 2005-2007

Face value: 20 Rubles

Finish: Brilliant Uncirculated, Oxidized

Composition: 92.5% Silver

Size: 38.61 mm

Weight: 28.28 grams

Mintage: 20,000 each

Imax Silver and Gold 2008 Holographic Coins from Canada

The Royal Canadian Mint recently issued two coins celebrating the film format created by Canada's IMAX Corporation. The silver and gold coins both show a spectator experiencing an immersive IMAX movie, and both feature a new Royal Canadian Mint technique to apply color directly onto a holographic image.

Award-winning and internationally renowned, IMAX is the largest film format in the world. In 1967, three Canadian filmmakers (Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor and Robert Kerr) designed a new system using a single, more powerful projector, rather than the cumbersome multiple projectors used at that time. The first IMAX film premiered at the Fuji Pavilion, EXPO '70 in Osaka, Japan.

Mint: Ottawa

Year: 2008

Face value: 300 Dollars (Gold Coin) - 30 Dollars (Silver Coin)

Finish: Proof, with colored hologram on the reverse

Composition: 58.33% Gold, 41.67% Silver (14-karat) (Gold Coin) - 92.5% Silver, 7.5% Copper (Silver Coin)

Size: 40 mm

Weight: 45 grams (Gold Coin) - 31.5 grams (Silver Coin)

Mintage: 1,000 (Gold Coin) - 15,000 (Silver Coin)

Happy Bastille Day!

July 14th is Bastille Day in France, a national holiday commemorating the storming of Paris' Bastille prison and the uprising that marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Happy Bastille Day to all French people living in France or abroad!

The first image is the front cover of Viva la vida, Coldplay's latest album. The second one is the reverse of a 1.5 euro silver proof coin from the French Mint celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Franco-Japanese Treaty. They both feature the Liberty Guiding the People (La Liberté guidant le people), one of Delacroix famous paintings.

More about Bastille Day and Paris in general in the Paris Blog.

Mint: Paris

Year: 2008

Face value: 1.5 Euro

Finish: Proof

Composition: 90% silver

Size: 37 mm

Weight: 22.2 grams

Mintage: 5,000

The Birds of Canada on four Colorful Commemorative Coins

The Royal Canadian Mint recently issued the final coin in the beautiful 2007-2008 series of four oversized commemorative 25-cent coins exploring the birds of Canada.

The first coin in this series shows the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is the most common species that breeds in the eastern half of North America. Ruby-throats are intensely inquisitive and thus easily attracted to feeders, where males typically display aggressive territoriality toward rival hummers, other birds, and even insects such as bees, butterflies, and sphinx moths.

The second coin shows the Red-Breasted Nuthatch. Of the 17 nuthatch species found throughout North America and Eurasia, three reside in Canada. The Red-Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) is the most widely distributed and is readily identified by its eye stripes and rust-colored underbody.

The third coin shows the Downy Woodpecker. Of the 13 woodpecker species living year-round in Canada, the Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) is the smallest and most common. At just 6-7 inches, it can excavate a nest cavity in a dead tree just 4 inches around. This gives the Downy more habitat options than larger woodpeckers that need bigger trees, and it often nests in suburban woods across southern Canada.

The fourth coin, just issued, shows the Northern Cardinal. The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is one of the most brilliantly coloured songbirds in southeastern Canada, where it is a familiar sight throughout the year. The bright red male stands out against white snow and green trees.

On a side note, the Bank of Canada issued a 1986 series of bank notes often referred to as the "Birds of Canada" series.

Mint: Ottawa

Years: 2007-2008

Face value: 25 Cents

Finish: Specimen, with colored reverse

Composition: Three-ply nickel finish plated steel

Size: 35 mm

Weight: 12.61 grams

Mintage: 25,000 each

The 2008 Rouen Armada Sailing Ships Silver Coins

The French Mint celebrates the ten-day Armada festival held in Rouen in 2008 by issuing two commemorative silver proof coins. These two coins feature a graphic allegory of sailing ships with their mighty sails, one with a 1.5 euro face value, and one 20-euro coin.

For the fifth time since 1989, Rouen, the capital city of Normandy, welcomes the world’s most beautiful sailing ships. This sailing event is held every four or five years. It attracts several million visitors in Rouen, coming for 10 days of music, racing, dancing and delicious seafood. Monnaie de Paris brings to the forefront the world of the sea, the ocean and those sailors who live on it.

Mint: Paris

Year: 2008

Face value: 1.5 Euro (pictured) - 20 Euros

Finish: Proof

Composition: 90% silver (pictured) - 95% silver

Size: 37 mm (pictured) - 50 mm

Weight: 22.2 grams (pictured) - 163.8 grams

Mintage: 5,000 (pictured) - 500

Anne of Green Gables on Commemorative Coin and Stamps

Anne of Green Gables is a book published in 1908 by the Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) recounting the childhood adventures of a spirited, red-haired orphan named Anne Shirley. Inspired by her life on Prince Edward Island, Montgomery had been writing poems and stories since her childhood. The Anne of Green Gables series is made up of 8 books: Anne of Green Gables (1908), Anne of Avonlea (1909), Anne of the Island (1915), Anne's House of Dreams (1917), Rainbow Valley (1919), Rilla of Ingleside (1921), Anne of Windy Poplars (1936), and Anne of Ingleside (1939). The books were also made into television programs and movies both in Canada and the United States.

The Royal Canadian Mint and Canada Post celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of the first novel in the very popular Anne of Green Gables series with a commemorative coin and two commemorative stamps. The oversized 25-cent coin features a portrait of Anne Shirley by accomplished illustrator Ben Stahl. One stamp shows the same portrait of Anne Shirley, and the other one shows her beloved Green Gables house.

The coin:

Mint: Ottawa

Year: 2008

Face value: 25 Cents

Finish: Specimen (with colored reverse)

Composition: Three-ply nickel finish plated steel

Size: 35 mm

Weight: 12.61 grams

Mintage: N/A

The souvenir sheet of 2 stamps:

Date of Issue: 6/20/2008

Size: 125 mm x 78 mm (Horizontal)

Printing Process: Lithography in 7 colors

Quantity: 350,000

Denomination: 2 x 52 Cents