Wednesday, March 4, 2020

BRITISH ROYAL MINT Releases “JAMES BOND” COMMEMORATIVE COINS for 25th Movie


There are not a lot of movie franchises that are made to last for many sequels. Universal Pictures might be doing its best with the “Fast and Furious” films, but even that racing action IP cannot hold a candle to the staying power of “James Bond” under Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and EON Productions. The upcoming “No Time to Die” is a milestone 25th film for the British super-spy and the last to feature actor Daniel Craig in the role. Even with so many movies, the UK is not getting any more tired of promoting “James Bond,” if the release of a unique commemorative coin is any indication.

Inquirer.net has it that the British Royal Mint has gone the extra mile to pay tribute to one of the UK’s most enduring pop icons: “James Bond,” the literary creation of Ian Fleming that has long outgrown his original book sources to become a multimedia phenomenon. Good enough that the mint has churned out some limited-edition Bond silver coins, with a face value of £5 but a selling price of £13 at minimum. But they have also minted a singular giant gold coin that has the highest technical face value and weight that has ever been made in the millennia-long history of the Royal Mint.

With a diameter of 185 millimeters, this large gold coin will never fit into any pocket but that of a giant’s. So is the face value, a cool £7,000 that is equal to P450,000 in the Philippines or $9,000 in the US. As if to erase any doubt that this is a James Bond commemorative coin, the obverse (face side) shows Agent 007’s signature Aston Martin DB5 (with actual/fictional plate number BMT 216A) as it drives out of a tunnel that looks like the gun-barrel of the poor assassin always trying to aim at Bond in the intro, only to be spotted, outdrawn and killed.

Other James Bond coins from the Royal Mint to celebrate Bond 25 aka “No Time to Die” include a series of smaller gold coins weighing from 5 ounces, to a kilo, to two kilos (as opposed to the giant 7-kilogram gold coin). Face values range from £10 to £2,000. The mint has also released special metal plates engraved with the titles of all EON Bond films made. Collectors in the UK look to be readying to pay through the nose for some of these special-edition mint coins even as “No Time to Die” comes close to premiering this April 10.

Image from Sky News

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