One of the big numismatic success stories of the last couple of years has been the popularity of meteorite coins. First coming to prominence in late the late noughties, the coin with embedded meteorite fragments has really taken off lately. As with any new genre experiencing lots of entrants, differentiating yourself soon becomes harder and harder so that you can stand out from the crowd. At first glance, Dutch coin producer Numiscollect have faltered by choosing a meteorite that has appeared on other coins recently, but in reality it seems more apparently a challenge that they can do better than what has gone before.

The big three producers in the field are the Mint of Poland, Coin Invest Trust, and MCI-Mint, the latter of which has already released a fine pair of Campo Del Cielo coins in one-ounce and one-kilo formats. What makes the Numiscollect effort standout is the beautiful window in the centre of the coin, the vibrant focus of a design that incorporates many other tricks of the trade like antiquing, a deep concave strike, and an embedded meteorite fragment. The glass inlay windows through to both sides of the coin instead of just being embedded in the face, and replicates an approximate view of the night sky

The struck part of the coin design itself is one of the best in our view, finely detailed, very deep and displaying a nice slice of meteor instead of a lumped fragment, a nice touch. Text inscriptions around the edge are done in a nice format and aren’t intrusive. The whole reverse side is quite superb. Even the obverse has had much attention spent on it. As the coin is issued for the Cook Islands, an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II is required, but instead of taking up the whole coin as is often the case, it’s pushed to one side and this leaves space for a set of flaming meteorites plunging through space, towards the Earth no doubt.

At three ounces in weight and incorporating higher-end minting techniques, this isn’t a budget release. Nicely packaged and with a Certificate of Authenticity, the coin will sell for €499 / $549 USD. The mintage is limited to a tiny 333 pieces and the coin will ship in May. We reckon this one will make a fine centrepiece to a meteorite coin collection. It’s available to order now with the form below getting you free shipping when buying direct from the mint.