New silver bullion coin season is still in full swing and the latest big bullion retailer to get an exclusive on a new coin, in this case a series, is United States dealer Modern Coin Mart (MCM). We’ve seen quite a few of these throughtout the year including the Great White Shark (APMEX), Battle of the Coral Sea (GOLDLINE), Wedge-tailed Eagle (GOVMINT), Canadian Buffalo (JM BULLION), and Sister Cities (TEXAS PM). When non-exclusive bullion coins are included in the reckoning, it’s clear that nature-themed coins are a hugely popular choice, and this brings us to the new Burundi-issued coin here.

The first in a new annual series, each to feature a depiction of that king of the beasts, the African Lion, mintage on these is quite restricted in outright bullion coin terms at just 50,000. With numbers that low, and with it being the debut release in a whole new series, this coin has some good potential to rise independently of the spot price and achieve a solid semi-numismatic status. Unusually, every coin comes with a certificate of authenticity.

We haven’t seen one in the flesh yet, and to be honest the MCM images aren’t particularly great, but we think the design is good, offering plenty of detail while remaining anatomically sound. The inscription is a little invasive and would have looked better following the rim clockwise from 9 to 1 in that clean space, but it’s certainly one of the nicer silver bullion coins released lately. Photographed differently, it looks like we’d see a decent level of relief to the design.

A proof version is already available, limited to 1,000 pieces with the first 100 coming in a nice wooden box, although these may have already sold out. There are gilded and coloured versions to come, as you’d expect these days, but no news on a migration to larger sizes, such as 5oz or 1kg. The bullion version is available to order now at some quite reasonable premiums, with pre-graded MS69 and MS70 coins also up for sale.