2016 Lunar Skulls Coins Announced

Following the success their 2015 Lunar Skulls Year of the Goat proof and uncirculated silver coins, which sold out very quickly and were a hit with collectors, SM Mint and SkullCoins announced on January 9 the worldwide release of the 2016 Lunar Skulls Year of the Monkey coins.

This coin series offers an unusual twist on the popular Chinese Lunar calendar theme, which is the largest modern world coin program ever in terms of countries issuing coins and the number of different coins produced.  With so many Lunar-themed coins being released, it helps to have an approach that is different from other series.

As was the case last year, the proof coin will have a tiny mintage of just 500 coins, and the BU example will have a mintage of 2,000 coins.  Each comes encapsulated and has a serial number on its edge, which matches the number that appears on the accompanying certificate of authenticity. 

While proof coins have been numbered before, this series may be the first to number BU coins.

Last year’s release was issued under the legal authority of Ghana, but as a result of some issues encountered with the project management team for the 2015 release, the new coins are being issued under the authority of Palau and are being minted by renowned German private mint, B.H. Mayer, which produces coins for many countries, including the popular Tiffany Art series.

In their press release, SM Mint noted: “After we experienced multiple issues from our hired project management team on the 2015 release and delays from the mint, we decided to hire a brand new team of the most competent professionals in the field to assist with our 2016 release.  In addition, we are releasing under Palau and minting with the world renowned BH Mayer in Germany, this combination has produced some of the most well-known, high quality award winning modern world coins today, such as "Tiffany Art.”  The release also indicates the capsules have been improved.

There are also some other changes with the 2016 coins compared to those from 2015.  The serial numbers have been moved the edge of the coin to give it a cleaner design, the finish of the proof coins is slightly different than it was last year, and the finish of the BU coin is more of a traditional BU finish while last year’s was more of a matte uncirculated finish. 

SM Mint said their plan is to retain the current format and finishes for the next 10 annual releases in the series and believes that collectors will be pleased with the improvements that have been made this year.

The coins are being sold directly by SM Mint through its SkullCoins division at http://www.skullcoins.com/lunar-skulls/ as well as through a network of six authorized distributors, including five in the U.S. (APMEX, First Coin Company, ModernCoinMart, and Liberty Coin and Currency, Dazzling Coins in Canada, and Powercoin in Europe. 

At the moment pre-orders are being accepted, and the coins are expected to ship in the middle of February.  Buyers can check SM Mint (http://www.smmint.com/) for updates and for answers to questions from collectors about the new release. 

SM Mint is selling pairs of BU and proof coins with matching serial numbers for $179 as of January 10.  Prices are expected to move higher once the mintage of each coin has sold out from the network of authorized distributors. 

To help to ensure a wide distribution of these limited issue, high-demand coins, SM Mint held a lottery in which the winners were able to purchase a pair of 2016 coins with matching serial numbers at a special price.  The lottery closed on January 8, and the winners were notified by e-mail.