Amid the dizzying array of recent new world coin issues is an intriguing new series from the Mint of Poland created for the island nation of Niue, which issues a lot of coins.
The series is called “Missing Works of Art” and deals with famous paintings and other art works that went missing during World War II, most of which were stolen by the Nazis, and which have never since resurfaced.
The
coins are square-shaped, made of one ounce of .999 silver, 40 by 40
millimeters in diameter, and have a mintage of 1500.
The concept reminds me of the recent George Clooney film, Monuments Men, about the efforts of a small group of art experts commissioned by FDR to retrieve the major works of art plundered by the Nazis during the war.
The first issue in this series honors the extremely famous Raphael Renaissance painting, Portrait of a Young Man, from 1513-1514, which most experts believe is of the artist himself in his youth. This painting is widely regarded as the most important one stolen by the Nazis.
The coin’s reverse shows the museum in Cracow, Poland where the work was last seen, and the painting in color using digital printing. The obverse cleverly depicts an ornate empty frame and includes Swarovski elements.
The coin’s reverse shows the museum in Cracow, Poland where the work was last seen, and the painting in color using digital printing. The obverse cleverly depicts an ornate empty frame and includes Swarovski elements.
The second coin in the series honors the Gothic sculpture from the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries known as the Madonna of Turin that shows the Madonna with baby Jesus, another historic work stolen by the Nazis.
The series was only announced very recently by the Polish Mint. I have seen it for sale on e-Bay from European sellers. American buyers may want to consider obtaining it from the Mint’s U.S. distributor, First Coin Company.
The series was only announced very recently by the Polish Mint. I have seen it for sale on e-Bay from European sellers. American buyers may want to consider obtaining it from the Mint’s U.S. distributor, First Coin Company.
It is clearly aimed at art lovers, and numismatists who are fans of great works of art. There seems to be a significant interest in art among collectors of world coins since many of the most popular coin series have artistic themes.
These are coins designed to be enjoyed for their sheer beauty. They should not be purchased as investments, but there are some cases when such coins have done very well, such as the Niue 5 oz Year of the Horse coin that I wrote about last year, which went from a $500 issue price to a current value of approximately three times that amount or more, depending on where purchased.
These are coins designed to be enjoyed for their sheer beauty. They should not be purchased as investments, but there are some cases when such coins have done very well, such as the Niue 5 oz Year of the Horse coin that I wrote about last year, which went from a $500 issue price to a current value of approximately three times that amount or more, depending on where purchased.
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