Coin Art: The Crown Coin
When you google the term ‘coin art’, you will quickly discover a myriad of ideas to use your old coins to make works of art. However, it is rare for valuable precious metal coins to be used for such a purpose. Due to their low price and ready availability, junk silver coins might be suitable for this purpose though. Some companies have found special ways to make regular bullion coins appealing to collectors as works of art by for example colorizing them, embedding diamonds or other precious stones onto them, or even encasing stardust or meteorite pieces within their design.
A special company with a history of several hundred years has now taken more than a year to create a unique coin that elevates coin art to a new level of sophistication and price. The East India Company is technically not related to the original company with the same name that was dissolved in 1874. However, it acquired the rights to the name in 2005. As a company that sees itself as a lifestyle brand, it focuses on creating luxury items for an affluent clientele.
The Crown Coin is a coin art project by the East India Company
The unique coin that it has now created with about 8 pounds of gold and 6,426 diamonds has a diameter of about 9.6 inches. That makes it a little bigger than an NBA-regulation basketball. The coin that is dedicated to the life of Queen Elizabeth II was named “The Crown Coin” in the company’s press release. This unique specimen of coin art has been assembled out of eleven different 24-carat gold coins that were embedded into a bed of diamonds. The largest of these coins weighs over 2 pounds. It was embedded at the center of the art piece where it is surrounded by the other ten gold coins that each weigh 1 ounce. The different official portraits of the late Queen appear on some of these individual coins whereas the others depict virtues such as truth, justice, and courage.
There is no information yet as to what will happen to this unique coin, estimated to be worth around 23 million USD. Hopefully, it will be displayed in a museum somewhere instead of disappearing into the private collection of some oil sheik or corrupt businessman or politician.
