All I know is that they were minted by the Bavarian State Mint in Germany. Does any else have any additional information to share. I know some were colored, there's a few different finishes and a proof set. Everything else about them I'm in the dark. Any experts out there to lend a hand?
Good luck with that. The Bavarian Mint give out bugger all information. I've discussed this with no less than the M.D. They mint for clients and the clients want confidentiality. Their hands are tied.
market would notice glut of the earlier elephants ... but there're not many ... or someone with very strong hands holds them
I rarely see them for sale and the pricing varies widely. The pricing disparity maybe due to condition of coin. The ones currently on eBay are quite expensive IMHO. 2003 gilded $159.99 obo 2003 4 coin proof set $595 obo 2003 4 coin proof set graded and slabbed. NGC PF 69 $625 I agree with worldbubble that the market would notice a glut of earlier Elephants.
Zambia series isn't up to par with the Somalian series anyways. IHNO zee German learned from their mistakes with the Zambia series to hence put out a spectacular Somalian series. They did away with the various finishes (BU ,Matte and proof) along with some poorly executed colored coins. I think they are great for collecting but not quite up the the quality and diversity of the Somalian Elephants.
One nice thing about the Zambia coins though is low mintage. Elephants are getting up there in the latest years so that will impact appreciation going forward. Early year Somalia and Zambia elephants are winners if you can accumulate them without breaking the bank.
The planned higher mintage of the Somalia Elephants will bring more fans and collectors to the series which is a good thing and should have a trickle down effect to the Zambia coins. So far as I can tell the Zambia coins come in matte, proof, proof sets, a 2 oz coin, gilded and colored. If you know of others please let me know. In no way I can be 100% accurate. The colored ones IMHO are not very pretty. There also seem some inconsistently about the design. For example the Queen's visage being seen on newer coins. I'm trying to figure this out as well be there seems to be two different designs in 1999. One featuring weight and mental type while the other doesn't. It makes you wonder. Lots of people are passing off the none weighted, non mental type coins as legit 1999s. If the purity of the silver isn's on the coin I grow sceptical. With that being said they come up in value so does my Elephants which is a good thing.
here is my 2002 Proof. http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums/ag243/joe1320/2002proofelephant_zps5d08b66e.jpg?t=1388832272
Forgot the other side. http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums...oofelephantfront_zpsbd58edc1.jpg?t=1388832367
