One of the bullion highlights last year was Scottsdale Mint’s all-new EC8 coin program. A series of issues, one for each of eight Caribbean nations, each of which highlighted a facet of that islands national character. We’re pleased to see that not only was the program successful enough to return in 2019, but that it has also done so with all new designs. We thought that if it came back it would be with rehashed designs, but all credit to Scottsdale for investing the time to differentiate.

No changes to the formats or mintages from last years coins (which you can see in our comprehensive Coin Series Profile). The bullion coin is available as a 1oz 0.999 silver (25,000 mintage) or 1oz 0.9999 gold (2,500) variant, and in addition to those there are a pair of proof commemorative versions with similar weights, but far smaller mintages. The proof coins have colour highlighting – something we’d personally do without, but it isn’t overpowering – and come in neat boxes with a coloured shipper and a certificate of authenticity. The bullion variants ship in capsules on customized Scottsdale Mint branded skin boards of five, although dealers will sell them individually. The gold BU coins will ship in Scottsdale Mint’s Certi-Lock® packaging.

The first coin is for Antigua & Barbuda, just as in 2018. The subject, Rum Running, remains the same, but the design is all new. Depicting a pirate overseeing the landing of his booty, we like it a touch more than the 2018 effort. The common obverse is unchanged from last year and is the same across all four variants. We should see the other seven coins issued as the year goes on, in what will likely be another release-packed year for Scottsdale. All of the these small island nations share a currency and a central bank.The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) is the official issuer of the Eastern Caribbean Dollar, which is legal tender in the territories of all eight members. Yet to come are Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines