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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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.

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See my Ares, Poseidon and Hephaestus in the same series.

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Apollo fell in love with beautiful nymph Daphne but she rejected his advances. Not discouraged Apollo chased her until she lost strength. Just before giving her a big kiss, Daphne asked her father, the god of the river, to transform her into a laurel tree. On my coin the scene depicts the moment, when Daphne changes into a laurel tree. On the background we see: Daphne’s father, an amphora (the symbol of god of the river), the waterfall and the river.

I like when my projects are not so simple as they could be. Sometimes I try to add something unusual, something surprising, not always obvious at a glance. Just for playing a game . Poseidon was gliding over the waves like a surfer and Apollo and Daphne are dancing Argentine tango. They are in the very specific position and this is a real figure of Argentine tango. It’s very emotional dance… like love.

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Since 16^th century in art we commonly see Atlas holding the Earth on his shoulders, but according to the mythology he should bear the celestial sphere. My Atlas is just a clumsy muscle man. The athlete loses the balance and the Sky is about to fall on his head.

Titan Atlas had numerous children. His seven daughters—Pleiades: Alcyone, Electra, Celaeno, Maia, Merope, Sterope, Taygete (their names in Greek appear on the coin) committed suicide when her father was condemned by Zeus to carry the heavens on his shoulders. Then Zeus turned them into the stars. The cluster of Pleiades is a part of the Taurus constellation, close to the Auriga and Perseus constellations. We see all of them on the Sky map above the Titan’s head.

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Titan Cronus, sometimes confused with Chronos (personification of time), was the god of agriculture and keeper of the harvests. His attribute was a sickle or a scythe.

Cronus was the son of Gaia and Uranus—personifications of Earth and Sky. Gaia and Uranus were not only the parents of twelve Titans but also of bizarre giants: Hecatoncheires (Hundred-Handers) and Cyclops. Out of fear of the power of his deformed children, Uranus hid them in his wife’s body, thus condemning her to a great pain. In revenge, Gaia gave Cronus a sickle. Then the youngest of Titans castrated his own father, knocking him off the pedestal. Crippled and furious Uranus foretold to his son, that he was destined to be overcome by his own descendant. From now on, Cronus swallowed all his children, as they were born. However Rhea, Cronus’s clever wife, saved newborn Zeus. Once he had grown up, Zeus released his siblings from the insides of Cronus. With his brothers and sisters he thrown Cronus and other Titans into Tartarus.

On the coin: Cronus, god of the harvest is cutting a bunch of grapes. This is an allusion to the mutilation of Uranus with a sickle.

edit: 6 of 12 coins in this series: here.

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I love drawing man anatomy. That is why this project was so exceptional for me. Hercules (in Ancient Rome) or Heracles (in Ancient Greece) was a muscled guy, who has 12 works to accomplish. These tasks was commissioned by Eurystheus, king of Mycenaean fortress Tiryns. The first job of Hercules was to slay the vicious lion of Nemea. That lion had skin that no blade could pierce. How Hercules killed the beast? European art depicts Hercules strangling or ripping the jaw of the lion with his bare hands. I chose option N° 2 — I found the scene more dramatic.
Originally, the design of the reverse was supposed not to have any decoration. The composition was drawn kipping in mind that there will be no gilding. I was disappointed that the client finally decided to gild the entire lion’s head (instead of something smaller). Gilding made the relief too flat and, I think, it changed the readability of the crutial part of the scene. Now the lion has an artifficial looking head. What a pity!

They said about this coin:

“(…) this is an early look, but we’re reassured by the mints track record of issuing sketches and renders at this stage, which then go on to be realised as quite superb physical coins.” AgAuNews
“Since then, we’ve recieved the CGI renders that the Mint of Poland puts out for its premium issues and we can see the potential of this one much more clearly now.” AgAuNews

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My favorite coin in this series. After Ares.

The god of the sea slides on the waves like a surfer. In classical approach, Poseidon would rather drive a chariot pulled by hippocamps (sea-horses), but here he pulls them behind him. A large shell and tentacles of octopus in the Poseidon’s waist protect him from injuries. 🙂
On the right we see Triton (half man, half fish), the messenger of the sea, the son of Poseidon. Triton plays his conch shell. Its sound calms or raises the waves…

Links and quotations:

“Last years outstanding Ares God of War silver coin followed by equally stunning Poseidon”.
“Ares: God of War from Numiartis and the Mint of Poland joined the market to much applause early last year. Early renders hinted at something special, but we were hugely impressed by the finished article and so were collectors. We all know the jokes about the ‘difficult second album’, but following a hit coin is never easy. We’re stoked to see that this years issue is very much the equal of Ares.” AgAuNews

“Best coin in the world? “Poseidon” – Ultra High Relief, Gold Gilded “Gods” series II” Backyard Bullion YouTube

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On the reverse of this coin we see one of the main scenes from Homer’s Iliad: Achilles kills Hector outside the gates of Troy.

The composition—two fighting warriors in profile—refers to the Greek pottery paintings. I even thought about red gold or copper plating of the coin with black proof decoration, just like red-figure or black-figure ancient Greek vases.

The insert: hematite is called a stone of warriors. Its name comes from the Greek: αἷμα [haima] means “blood”, and haimatites—”bloody”. It is a common mineral, iron oxide, which after powdering takes on a red color. Red ochre—natural pigment used in paintings over the world—contains hematite. In ancient Babylon, hematite was an amulet worn by warriors during wars.

They said about my Achilles:

“We always cheer up when we hear Numiartis have something new coming out, mainly because you’re almost guaranteed to get something special. With such quality releases as the Minotaur, Ares, (…) and recently, the superb Poseidon, they have a standard of output matched by few others, no doubt aided by choosing to work with some of the best in the industry like CIT and the Mint of Poland.” AgAuNews

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The coin premiere: World Money Fair in Berlin, 2.—4. feb. 2018.

Spartacus is the famous leader of the largest slave uprising against the Roman Impire. The reverse of the coin depicts a dynamic scene with Spartacus sitting on a climbing horse and attacking Roman legionaries. The biggest challenge for me was to draw, as accurately as possible, the weapons and equipment of the gladiators and Roman soldiers. I have done a lot of historical research…

When I was drawing Spartacus, I knew it was the first project in the battle scenes series. So I had an idea to crate a timeline effect throughout the Great Commanders series. The first coin, Spartacus, depicts the scene where troops have not yet clashed. The second coin should show the moment just before the clash, while the third — the moment when the fight begins. And the fourth coin? Hard to imagine.

On the obverse: a map of the Spartacus revolt with places of major battles.

About my Spartacus:

“There are some rose-gold highlights (…), but in other respects the success of this coin rests exactly where it should—on the design.”
“Apart from the name ‘SPARTACUS’, the coin is free of intrusion.”
“The obverse is particularly noteworthy and follows this mints trend of not just filling this face with the obligatory effigy of Queen Elizabeth II (…), but of incorporating it into a custom design. This one is superb, depicting the route taken by Spartacus on his Italian package holiday covering all the best slaughtering resorts. A very impressive and imaginative use of space normally filled with little consideration to the reverse face.”
AgAuNews

Coin close-up view: Mint of Gdansk YouTube

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The reverse of this coin was inspired by the painting “Jupiter and Thetis” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a famous French neo-classical painter. Unlike the painting there is a silhouette of Thetis at the foot of Jupiter. On the left, behind the god, we see a silhouette of Victory, shown not as Roman but as Greek goddess. It is the reconstruction of the famous Hellenistic sculpture of Nike: the Nike of Samothrace (also called the Winged Victory of Samothrace). The whole scene alludes then to the ancient Greek statue of Zeus at Olympia, the work of the famous sculptor Phidias: in his right hand the god of sky held a statue of Nike, personification of victory.

On the obverse: Temple of Jupiter Stator (Jupiter the stayer) according to engraving of the nineteenth century. Background pattern: mosaic of the 3rd century (Pergamon).

About this coin:

Mennica Gdańska / YouTube
“It’s clear that Jupiter has the potential to be a fine coin. We’re not expecting the relief to be quite as detailed and intricate as shown here.” AgAuNews