Cartoon Coins Around the World – Our Top Five
Cartoon coins – whether they are seen as a gimmick or a good buy is very much down to personal opinion. We always advise customers to buy collectors coins because you like them, or have an interest in them, and not as a potential investment. They can make great gift items or may start young collectors on their coin collecting journey! Whilst we don’t tend to stock many new issue novelty coins or medallions, we often see them on the secondary market. Here are our top five cartoon coins:-
1993 Twelve Adventures of Tintin Gold Medallions
Our first favourite is not really a coin, it’s actually a medallion – or 12 to be exact! The Twelve Adventures of Tintin Gold Medallions were issued by the Paris Mint in France. The set was made in 1993 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Tintin’s creator, Georges Prosper Remi. Remi is better known by his pen name, Hergé. Despite being a native of Belgium, his first Tintin story was published in France, in 1929. After a huge success, it was later published in Belgium, before being made into it’s own magazine. We like these medallions because not only are they struck in 18ct gold, but they also feature different characters and events from the Tintin cartoons.
2015 Cinderella $2 Coin
This Cinderella coin is part of the Disney Princess Series. The coins were struck by the New Zealand Mint on behalf of the small island country of Niue. Other coins in the series include Aladdin’s Jasmin, Beauty and the Beast’s Belle and The Little Mermaid’s Ariel. The reason we like this coin is that it was issued to coincide with the release of the live-action film. The colourful 1oz silver coin comes in a lovely presentation box – designed like a book of fairy tales. We think this would be perfect for young collectors. There have been no Frozen coins issued just yet, but we think that if they do decide to make them, they will likely be the most popular!
2015 Disney Season’s Greetings Silver $1 Coin
These delightful Disney coins were also produced by the New Zealand Mint, on behalf Niue. The festive coins were first introduced in 2014 and we sold out within days. You can imagine how happy we were to see a new design released last year. Hopefully they’ll be released annually.
The coin has a colourful reverse, and comes encased in a star-shaped decoration – perfect for hanging on a Christmas tree! The box itself is themed to look like a story book. We’re so impressed by these coins that many of the staff have purchased them as gifts!
2010 50th Anniversary of Peanuts $1 Coin
We bought this coin on the secondary market and didn’t have it in stock for long. It was issued by the British Virgin Islands in 2010 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the comic strip, Peanuts. The reverse of the coin features the classic image of Snoopy laying on the rooftop of his doghouse with his bird friend, Woodstock, perched on his feet. What makes this coin so special is the Snoopy teddy bear that accompanies it. Imagine giving this to someone as a gift!
2011 Spongebob Squarepants Silver $2 Coin
Last, but not least, is a coin which unfortunately barely saw the light of day. These Spongebob Squarepants coins were issued by Niue, and were quite fittingly square shaped. After PFGBest (the firm behind their creation) went bankrupt, the silver coins were viewed as an asset and were ordered to be melted down. Customers around the world were left disappointed as the firm could not fill all of their pre-orders. A lucky few managed to get their coin sets, as well as the peace of mind that they were now the owner of some rare – and much sought after – coins!
Do you know of any cartoon coins that didn’t make our top 5? Then leave a comment below. Who knows, maybe we’ll expand it into our top 10.
