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Freyja (‘lady’ in Old Norse) is a Nordic goddess of beauty, love, fertility and vegetation. Her attribute was a golden amber necklace – Brisingamen. It was made for the goddess by dwarfs from Svartalfheim—the Nordic land of dwarfs. As compensation, Freja had to give herself to each of them. Freyja rides a chariot pulled by two cats.

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I was so excited when Łukasz Rosanowski, the owner of Mint of Gdansk asked me to draw a Witcher series coins. It was a huge challenge! With Łukasz we talked for hours and hours about all details of the first coin and about the whole coin series. We both knew that the project could not refer neither to the Polish, quite old film adaptation of The Witcher, nor to the well-known game. The design of the Witcher coins should be based only to the Andrzej Sapkowski’s book. I need to clarify: „The Last Wish” coin, the firrts coin in this series, was created in 2019 and its premiere took place before famous Netflix „Witcher” series.

When you create the whole coin series, you should first create the whole graphic framework for the entire series. The characters should have the same coherent look in all coins.That’s why the first coin „The Last Wishes” imposed the layout of the series. This first coin was the beginning of the illustrated minted story.

Preparation for a project is always fundamental! I have read “The Last Wish” book several times. I took notes: Geralt’s sword had to be a typical medieval longsword and it should have a notched handle. I had to break with the common Geralt’s image taken from the Polish movie and famous game: no smooth hair combed into a ponytail. And the “book” witcher did not carry two swords on his back! Only one of them was suspended on his back. The second one, the special silver sword, was hidden in the horse saddlebags. Geralt of Rivia was dressed in a coat and a leather jacket laced on the shoulders and under the neck. Unlike his friend Dandelion, Geralt wasn’t handsome. I imagined Witcher to be a crude, strong guy with messily flowing hair tied with a headband on his forehead.

My husband, who is a fan of Andrzej Sapkowski’s saga, supported me in my project. He verified all my sketches with a very critical eye. He checked all details of the main illustration. I worked with two book editions: the paper edition and e-book version of the saga–just to be able to find faster the necessary descriptions. The design of the coin had to be as close to the text as posible.

The “Last Wish” coin design is not simply one selected scene from a book. I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t do something unusual. 😉 The reverse of the coin is a compilation of two different scenes from the book:

1) Dandelion loses his voice and Geralt fights with the Genie to protect his friend. Gerald holds in his hand a seal with a nine-pointed star (this is not the Aard sign!),

2) Yennefer, holding in both hands a magic ball with a pentagram, is approaching to the Genie. Behind her a portal opens.

In the book, these two scenes do not happen at the same time, but on the coin they do. I named them simultanous scenes. Of course this is nothing new… We know simultaneous scenes from the medieval paintings and painted lives of saints.

On the obverse we see elements that are repeated on each coin in the Witchers’ series:
• an ornamental ring with a pattern in a Celtic style;
• three Witcher swords (two of Geralt’s and one of Ciri’s—all three as described in the book),
• a Geralt’s medallion with a wolf,
• Yennefer’s medallion: an obsidian star with diamonds.

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Sword of Destiny

“Sword of Destiny“, the 2^nd coin in Witcher series, selective gilding, 3D insert, issuer: Niue 2020.

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On the reverse: inside the oak tree, Eithné—queen of Brokilon, gives Ciri a cup of the Water of Brokilon. In the background we see the dryad Braenn. And on the simultaneous scene: in Brokilon forest Geralt is fighting against a scolopendromorph.

The first rough sketch showed a completely different scene: a dryad archer and Geralt are fighting against the scolopendromorph to protect Ciri. Ciri is hidden in the bushes.

On the obverse: the Brokilon forest.

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Blood of Elves

“Blood of Elves“, the 3^nd coin in Witcher series, selective gilding, wooden insert, issuer: Niue 2022.

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I was working about 9 months on the 3^rd coin in the Witcher series. It was very tough project. About ten sketches of this coin were created. Concepts were constantly changing… Finally the decision was made: on the 3^rd coin we will see Geralt’s fight with the Scoia’tael elf. The elf, in a characteristic hat with a squirrel tail, is bleedeing after the mortal cut of Geralt’s sword. She falls to her knees and before she fell on her face, she screamed: „Shaerraweeeeedd!!!”.

Ciri, witcher’s apprentice, with her hair cut short, has a rose in her vest. She picked this white rose from the Shaerrawedd rose bush. In the background, we see a simultaneous scene: furious Yarpen Zigrin cuts with an ax the black-bearded dwarf. This dwarf just killed Yarpen’s brother which body we see behind. In the background, the approaching Scoia’tael troups and burned houses.

The coin is minted. The weakest link in this coin composition is the cart wheel insert. Made of small piece of wood, the insert is not filigree enough and it does not match the detailed coin relief. Not empty gaps between the spokes do not look natural. A 3D printing insert would probably be better. What a pity!

On the obverse:
• Shaerrawedd—a destroyed elven palace,
• a gravestone of Aelirenn—also called the White Rose of Shaerrawedd, the leader of the elves,
• a rose bush from which Ciri picked a flower.

Above the scene a hypothetical Scoia’tael coat of arms with a squirrel.

Unfortunately, my adventure with the Witcher coin series ended with these three coins. Do the subsequent coins reflect my original idea of the simultaneous scenes? Judge for yourself.

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Hurray, this time not antiquity but the Middle Ages! 🙂 I do love Middle Ages! I studied a medieval history of art and iconography.

Septem artes liberales or seven liberal arts were the great academic „skills”of the European medieval education. Four of them: arithmetica, geometria, musica, astronomia were the main skills, known as the quadrivium. Thanks to the quadrivium, the human mind could rise to a higher level—to the philosophy level! The remaining three lower liberal arts: grammatica, rhetorica, dialectica were called trivium.

On the reverse of the coin: four allegories of the Quadrivium team are looking at each other. The Geometry holds a wire sphere and a compass. Her right hand rests on the cube. There is a protractor on the floor. Arithmetic counts on the Napier’s bones (very smart calculating device even if it’s not strictly medieval) and on the abacus (invented by ancient Egyptians, in China known as suanpan). The Music is singing and she plays the medieval harp. We see a gittern at her feet. An astrolabe and a parchment with a solar system drawn on it, are two symbols of the Astronomy.

On the obverse we see a medieval rosette with septem artes liberales scheme. This is an allusion to a very famous illustration in Hortus deliciarum (Garden of Delights) a known medieval book by abbess Herrad of Landsberg.

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Dionysus is the 6^th coin in this series, after: Ares, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Apollo and Zeus.

Donysus, also known as Bacchus, is the god of pleasure, fertility and wine. Satyrs (half humans and half goats) and maenads were his companions. On the reverse of the coin, a satyr is pouring wine to Silenus. Silenus, the chubby, obese, bald guy with horse ears and a tail was the most famous of the satyrs. Silenus the drunkard is the god of shepherds, vegetation and ecstatic joy. On my coin he drinks from a vessel that looks more like a medieval than an ancient Greek chalice. Why? Just for fun ;).
Near to Silenus,we see a typical Greek amphorae for transporting a wine and a gold krater (or crater) for mixing wine and water. On the krater, a large two-handled vase we see a symposium scene (in Greek: Συμπόσιον means to drinking together). In ancient Greece a symposium was the part of a banquet reserved only for men, that followed the main meal when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing or conversation.

Dionysus lies on a huge cornucopia and he is obscenely swallowing a grape. With his other hand, he pours the wine not from a rhyton (a typical horn-shaped vessel for drinking wine at libations), but from a flat goblet called in Greek a kylix.

Maenads (or, according to Euripides’ famous tragedy, bacchantes), are dancing in the background. Their characters were directly taken from my own sketch of Cronus. I turned the innocent nymphs, hiding baby Zeus in cradles into bacchantes of the cult of god of wine.

Have you ever heard about the 303 Polish RAF Squadron? The 303 Squadron is considered one of the best aviation units of World War II. The legendary British pilot, Douglas Bader himself mentioned about the exceptional combat effectiveness of the 303 Squadron and other Polish pilots. Sir Douglas Bader (joined RAF in 1928) lost both legs in airplane crash in 1931 and he was discharged from the RAF. In 1939, thanks to his determination and despite his disability, he returned to the RAF and beacme a flying ace of British aviation during WW2. After the war, he campaigned on behalf of amputees and people with disabilities. After his death in 1982, the Douglas Bader Foundation was founded by his family and friends (many of them flew with him in combat flights during World War II). “The Douglas Bader Foundation exists to advance and promote the physical, mental and spiritual welfare of persons who are born without or have lost one or more limbs, or are otherwise physically disabled” (www.douglasbaderfoundation.com).

Project 1: Douglas Bader Foundation Supermarine Spitfire Medal 2022

In 2022, to celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of the Douglas Bader Foundation, Westminster Collection issued Douglas Bader Foundation Supermarine Spitfire medal. 3D Spitfire model on the obverse of this medal, was crafted from a genuine piece of aluminium from a Spitfire AB910 Spitfires AB910 flew patrols over Normandy beachheads on D-Day.

I had the great pleasure to design the entire reverse of this medal and to redesign the background of the obverse. On the standard obverse I added airflow lines (initially the background was empty, without any graphics) around the 3D model airplane. On the reverse three shots of 1940 Spitfire: diving plane, attacking plane and pulling up. As a flight commander of 222 Squadron RAF, Douglas Bader flew Spitfires version 1940. Every WW2 aviation expert will surely notice that Spitfires built in 1940 had already four propeller blades, not three. For purely compositional reasons, the aircraft on the reverse of the medal has only three blades, as if it were an earlier version of the Spitfire. Yes, I know, it’s a historical inaccuracy, but visual considerations prevailed here. However, the side numbers of the aircraft are the actual numbers of Squadron 222. On the background of the reverse, behind the planes, we see circles symbolizing the vortex produced by the propeller.

You can see YT presentation of the medal here. More to read on Westminster Collection site here and here.

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…and kapitan pilot (RAF: Flight Lieutenant) Feliks Kulesza

Polish pilots took part not only in operations directly connected with fighting the Germans (as the famous 303 Polish Squadron in the Battle of Britain, as I mentionned above), but they also served in the aircraft delivery units.

“Infantry wins battles, logistics wins war” — general John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front during WWI.

Just before WW2, my grandfather, kapitan pilot Feliks Leon Kulesza was Fokker Transport Squadron Commander in Military Parachute Training Centre in Bydgoszcz (Poland). I found a short clip on YouTube from the training of Bydgoszcz paratroopers in 1939. Perhaps my grandfather is flying one of these Fokkers F.VII.

In September 1939, after the German aggression against Poland, most of the paratroopers and instructors from the Bydgoszcz Training Centre were taken prisoner by Germans or died. My grandfather survived. Through Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Malta, France, Algeria, Morocco, Gibraltar, he went to Great Britain, where he was trained to fly British airplanes. The Polish Army Museum in Warsaw stores my grandfather’s cigarette case, the places he went through to find his way to Great Britain are written inside it.

At the end of 1940, a Polish transport department was established at the RAF Delivery Unit (Polish Detachment RAF Takoradi, changed later to Polish Air Force Detachment RAF Middle East). In January 1941 my grandfather was directed to Takoradi on the Gold Coast (Ghana today).
TAKORADI route was one gigantic ferry flight operation in the WW2. More than 5000 aircrafts of several types were ferried across that route from 1940 to 1943. The RAF pilots moved the aircrafts from the Takoradi, via Lagos, Kano, Maiduguri (Nigeria), El Geneina, El Fasher, Khartoum (Sudan) to the Cairo (Egypt) and then to the operational areas in North Africa, Middle East or India. You can see the Takoradi Route MAP and photos of aircraft assembly in Takoradi here: www.sixtant.net or here: www.ashigbey.com.

In October 1941, kapitan pilot (RAF rank: Flight Lieutenant) Feliks Kulesza, RAF number P-0628, was flying Hawker Hurricane IIB (BD 918) from Takoradi, via Lagos (Nigeria) to Kano, and then to Cairo. Due to the bad weather conditions during the flight above the dense equatorial forest, he detached himself from the convoy and got lost. On the 25^th of October 1941, due to the lack of fuel, he crashed in the jungle south of the village of Oshogbo (Nigeria). He was only 38 years old. He is buried in the military cemetery in Oshogbo, grave nr 3.

My grandfather was posthumously awarded with the Silver Cross of Merit with Swords. This is a Polish military award established in 1942 by the Polish Government in Exile. The Cross of Merit with Swords is awarded for deeds of bravery and valour during time of war, not connected with direct combat and for merit demonstrated in perilous circumstances.

My father has visited his father’s (my grandfather’s) grave only twice in his life. Brother of my father (my uncle) has never been to Nigeria and never had a chance to see his father’s grave. Neither do I.

Other sources: PL O. Cumft, H.K. Kujawa, Księga lotników polskich, poległych, zmarłych i zaginionych 1939-1946, Wydawnictwa Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, Warszawa 1989, ISBN 83-11-07329-5; polska-zbrojna.pl, wprawo.pl;
EN about Takoradi Route: Sage Journals, blog RCAF No. 403 Squadron, www.raf.mod.uk; about Polish military award: Cross of Merit with Swords from Wikipedia;
and my family archive.

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My grandfather’s story was described in the leaflet accompanying the Douglas Bader Spitfire Medal:

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Project 2: Royal British Legion Remembrance Masterpiece Poppy Coin 2022

This is not the end of the story… I also had the pleasure to design the reverse of the Royal British Legion Masterpiece Poppy Coin — 5 oz silver premium edition 2022. Each year The Westminster Collection, in partnership with the Royal British Legion, releases a special ‘Masterpiece’ coin for Remembrance. And I was involved in this project. My grandfather, in a way, too…

I designed the reverse of this Poppy Coin. There is 39 small poppies and one big poppy on the centre of the reverse of this coin. A total of 40 poppies mark the 40^th Anniversary of the Falklands Conflict. On the background of the revers we see the map of the Falklands and two inscriptions: ‘REMEMBERING THE FALLEN’ and ‘LEST WE FORGET’. Every single coin was hand-painted by artist Adam Taylor. More on this project here.

There is a BOOKLET witch goes with the elegant box of the RBL Masterpiece Poppy coin. In this booklet (here YT: 1’53”) you will find not only a short story of my grandfather (like in Douglas Bader Spitfire Medal leaflet) but also his photo in RAF uniform. Could you imagine that? A veteran of the Falklands Confilct who receives (YT) as a gift ‘my’ premium Poppy Coin will read about unknown Polish WW2 hero? I’m very proud.

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Both projects: DB Supermarine Spitfire Medal and RBL Masterpiece Poppy Coin 2022, I dedicated to kapitan pilot Feliks Kulesza, my grandfather I never knew.

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6 of 12 coins in Twelve Labours of Hercules series, Niue 2018—2022, 5 Dollars, 2 oz, 45 mm, antique finish ultra high relief coin, gold plated, client: Magikos-Coins, producer: Mint of Poland.

Stay tuned for the next 6 coins!

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Slay the Nemean lion

Niue 2018.

The last-minute changes (gilding) on Nemean Lion (the first project in Twelve Labours of Hercules series) determined the look of the whole series (read more here). Next five coins have been designed so that the gilded elements do not overload the whole composition.

I had no problem with gilded elements on Lernaean Hydra (three small golden heads), Ceryneian Hind (golden horns—BTW if the hind is a female, it should not have horns 🙂 ), Erymanthian Boar (golden tusks) and Stymphalian Birds (metallic feathers). But what should I gild on Augean Stables? A shit? 😉 I don’t think the issuer would agree to that. According to the myth I could put in stables cleaning scene: the horses, the bulls, water and architecture… Nothing more. The horse has nothing special to gild—there is no harness (the horse must be unharnessed because it must be able to escape from the stable). The bull has horns to gild, but horns will be gilded on the seventh coin in this series—the Cretan Bull. There is no point in repeating the same gold plated motif. So the golden water? Too big surface to gild—we will have the same effect of overload as on Nemean Lion reverse. Would some architectural details work? Finally the Doric column in the hands of Hercules was gilded. Phew! I got it!

Slay the nine-headed Lernaean hydra

Niue 2019.

Capture the Ceryneian hind

Niue 2020.

Capture the Erymanthian boar

Niue 2021.

Clean the Augean stables

Niue 2021.

Slay the Stymphalian birds

Niue 2022.

The obverse in Twelve Labours of Hercules series was designed with the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. After the death of The Queen in 2022, next six coins in this series will have the obverse changed.

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Ares and Mars, Niue 2021, 5 dollars, 2 oz, diameter 45 mm, antique finish high relief coin with resin insert, client and producer: Mint of Poland.

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I will not write much about this project, because its iconography is not complicated. There is less symbolism here than in the previous 4 coins of the series (see: Ares, Poseidon, Hephaestus and Apollo). Zeus, god of storms and lightning, flies among the clouds. Behind him we see the Mont Olympus. Atributes of Zeus are: eagle and aegis—the shield of Zeus and Athena, featuring the head of Medusa and made of Amalthea’s skin. Amalthea was the goat who suckled the infant Zeus.

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The 3rd coin in this series, after: Perun and Svetovit.

There is no any historical image of Stribog, that I could be inspired by. He is just the Slavic god of the wind. That’s why the composition had to be dynamic and… stormy.

Stribog was also supposed to be the god of water and war. In the foreground we see three slavic ships with three slavic gods symbols (starting from the left: Perun, Stribog and Svetovit) on their sails.

My first sketch depicted Stribog blowing an unnaturally large horn. Finally the size of the horn was reduced (blue lines in the middle sketch below) to open up the space around the main character. The red arrows follow the air movement. The composition of the whole reverse is subjected to the wind. The trees, the sea waves and even the folds of Stribog’s shirt bend with the wind.

Three of teh four elements (water, earth and air) are depicted on the coin. Each of them is subjected to the wind. Fire, too, but I simply didn’t include it in the composition…

The patterns of the shirt and the ornament on the horn refer to the Ukrainian folk ornaments.

The obverse of this coin is the same as on the two previous coins in this series. See more.

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Everyone knows the myth of Prometheus, that is why no need to describe a detailed iconography. I will focus on the composition itself. Compared to rather static and classic compositions of modern collector coins, I prefer to surprise with dynamic composition and unusual perspective. Like in comic book art.

There are two versions of the myth of Prometheus. According to one of them, a vulture pecked Prometheus’s liver every day at sunrise. According to the other myth, it was an eagle (perhaps Ethon—the great Caucasian eagle), not a vulture… Finally, I chose the eagle because of its popularity in painted and sculpted artworks of Western European art.