We’re on a bit of a Scottsdale Mint bullion run at the moment, with the Royal Arms of England, Terracotta Army, and now the second Ghanaian Leopard putting in an appearance. Launched last June, the first leopard coin was a decent design with good anatomy and an aggressive pose. Back for 2018, this years coin is better still., in our opinion at least. As before, this one is only available in silver, and only available in the one-ounce format. It also shares the common obverse with the 2017 coin, although with the obvious changes to the inscribed information. While this one has the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II on it, at least Scottsdale made the effort to dress this face up with a leopard skin pattern. It makes all the difference and is an appropriate companion to the main reverse face.

The reverse is excellent in our view. Most wildlife coins, especially the big cats, tend to depict the animal neatly posed, often in portrait form. Not here, where the pose depicts leopard behaviour – in this case the hauling of dead prey into a tree to eat, where it will be safe from lions and wild dogs/hyaenas. A dynamic pose, with the leopard tearing flesh from the corpse. A treetop background frames the subject nicely. All in all, a far superior piece compared to the new Somali Leopard bullion coin that debuted last month.

One fact that will make this coin particularly attractive to collectors is the very low mintage. In contrast to last years 50,000 mintage, the 8,500 pieces on offer this year are positively tiny in comparison. They sold out at the mint to their distributors on the day of release, so we’d expect premiums to be rising on this one from the minute it goes up for sale. Definitely one to watch and an excellent coin.