Here's what got me started on 'em last year.. 1 UAH Archangel Michael .999 1-oz (individually encapsulated at the mint) First produced in 2011. Mintage of like 10K, IIRC.. (Good luck finding those = $$). Recent mintages have been around 25K. 2015's have started popping up. [Cool look at Kiev in the 2nd half of the vid..] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AstxcyBlsU [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AstxcyBlsU[/youtube] Couple proofs.. 1998 20 UAH Liberation War (.925 - 1 oz ASW, IIRC), mintage of 10K.. 2012 10 UAH Sterlet (.925 - 1 oz ASW, IIRC), mintage of 7K.. Wide range of pricing out there.. Shop wisely!
Official info from the National Bank of Ukraine, who issues these.. Bullion coins (yes, there's Au, too): http://www.bank.gov.ua/control/en/bullioncoin Click on each "Archangel Michael" for further info Commemorative coins: http://www.bank.gov.ua/control/en/currentmoney/cmcoin/list Again, click on each coin title for further info Where to buy? Via eBay / contact eBay sellers.. Those who have the variety & pricing are usually from Ukraine, Russia, Poland & Germany. Shipping is pretty cheap & takes like 1.5 to 2.5 weeks (at least to the US).
Reverses of some more lower-mintage .925 proofs (1 oz. ASW).. Gatito's Birds & Ships Edition! 2008 Eurasian Black Vulture.. 2012 Antiquity Navigation.. 2013 Great Bustard.. 2013 Catherine's Glory Ship..
Nice coins. I found some Ukrainian coins on eBay few weeks ago. I think ship on the last is the nicest one.
In hand, I like all the proofs more or less equally. I think they're all pretty cool. And these suckers are thick, given the .925 with 1-oz ASW. Still have them lying around, yet to be put into new air-tites prior to long-term storage. The original capsules aren't the best. Bit jiggly like Perth & Panda's. Plus, they've got these 2 openings for easy-opening with one's fingernail. Exposed to air. Tsk tsk. Don't even know yet if they'll fit into normal Direct-Fit Air-Tites. Worst-case, I have a bunch of old capsules saved from other transferred coins which might be thick enough (again, Perth, Panda's, etc.). Also, be mindful that all of the commemorative proofs might not come with OGP clamshells -- even though they're supposed to. Still get the COA's, and they do ring true (for thick sterling, anyway) with the ring test. So they are legit. Guessing they do it to either save on shipping costs, and/or hawk the clamshells separately to make a few extra bucks. I really don't mind either way, as they save me the trouble of storage. :lol: Decent-enough clamshells, though.
Doesn't bother me in the least bit.. For one, the majority of Ag coins throughout history were *not* 1 troy oz of .999!
The archangel coins are hideously ugly (I would never buy one even if at spot) but aesthetically the ships and birds are very cool looking. .925 silver is perfectly fine.....even 90% silver coins is fine. In my view, it makes no sense at all for someone who just cares about the purity of the silver to even consider buying coins when you can save plenty of money buying blobs instead. You're wasting money on higher premiums buying coins instead of the lowest priced generic blobs if you're concerned only with the purity of the silver. .
