Cook Islands - Masterpieces of Art / Ars Vaticana

G

GilM

New Member
Hi guys,
I will appreciate some help here.
I am not a coin collector (yet) but only have physical silver as a form of investment - Eagles, Pandas, Maples and a few complete sets of the Australian Lunar Series 1. Two weeks ago I purchased the $20 Cook Islands Tutankhmun coin. Wow, this coin is really amazing. Now I have a BIG appetite for the rest of the series and seriously thinking of getting them all.

I am having trouble to understand how many coins are available in this series as I have not found even one website that lists them all. After googeling it for hours today I found 15 coins and put them all together in this photo.

ArsVaticana.jpg



- Is this list complete?
- Is there any source of information (website/forum/blog) that follows this series?
- Any idea how many more to follow?
- how much are/were they retailed for? Some dealers have crazy prices on them, it really hard for me to understand what a fair price is.
- Do you know an online dealer with reasonable prices?

My rough estimation is that purchasing the 14 coins remaining coins will be totaled in $8K-$10K in the good case. The same money can buy over 200 Oz. of American Eagles. How are these type of collector's coins perform as an investment? How are they priced or will be priced in the future, based on what? Does the silver spot price play any role here?

I would appreciate some help very much since it is my first attempt to collect some special coins.


Thanks, Gil
 
G'day Gil,

Not seen you post on here before, so welcome to the site!

I don't know much about this series to be honest, but would personally go for investing in Bull instead.

A series like this is beautiful, and I'm pretty smitten with it myself at first glance. It's got most of my favourite classical pieces in it... BUT - for the price, just buy bull or standard coins. You can't go wrong, wheras some premium coins will only attract a small market.

I use premium coins as showpieces for a display cabinet, a fancy case and some nice coins look great and are a good conversation piece.

'Coins for show, bullion for a pro' - my adage! :)
 
Thanks of the warm welcome RhythmDoctor. Yes, I am new to this forum.

I've always purchased silver bullion without looking into other "Coins for Show" as you call them. I kind of think the same way that the return on investment will be much greater on bullion especially now when silver turns to be the hottest commodity on the planet.

I just never experienced this kind of feeling before, I have one of the series and now I want them all badly.
 
I have seen some of the coins from that series up for sale on eBay - but they are very costly.

Regards your questions wether they will be increasing in premium and if its worthy getting the entire series -
i would advise against it.

The coins are worthy to the guy who SOLD it to you - and the premium has already been realised !!

15 x 1 oz silver coins for $8k ?

in my opinion the premium is already up there and wont be going up much more.

If you want to be investing into "premiums" than ud need to get the coins as soon as they are released from the Mint by subscribing and applying for an allocation.

Also check out the Palau silver coins series, they are equally amazing.

If you are buying bullion - you will always know where you stand and even if price stays flat you will be within 3% +- of your price.

With premium coins - your market isnt as liquid - increases in SPOT silver may or may not be translated into increases in the cost of your $20 Cook Island coins.
 
Each coin weighs 3 Oz. and has 15 or 16 Swarovki stones. The Mona Lisa, Tutankhamun and the Vitruvian Man also have a 0.25 Oz. 24K gold plate in the center. These 3 are priced between $1.5 - $2.5K each. The others around $370-$500. You are right, they are costly.

Some of them are still available at the mint at these prices.

http://rsmint.com/cookislands.aspx
 
Ah, didnt know they were 3 oz each - but still id rather buy straight bullion for $8k than the series.

they are beautiful coins tho
 
It is a beautiful series :)

I know you've already made your decision but as far as I can see the only coin you're missing up there is Canal's "Return of the Bucentaurn" coin. That was advertised in the latest Downies catalogue.

I don't know a lot about this series but I do know there are different standards of coins released through the series. For example the Mona Lisa, Tutankhamen and Vitruvian Man coins were special releases that have a gold insert on which the art is printed, this means they have a much higher retail price than the others. Euro collections/Downies are selling the aforementioned coins for around $2000, whereas the others are mostly under the $400 mark
 
"The Return of the Bucentaurn" is actually there on the top right corner, by Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto). The name of the painting is missing.

I got the Tutankhmun for $1.5K on an eBay auction. Funny thing is that I was looking at the ending auctions trying to hunt for last minute bargains and came across this coin when there were less than 2 minutes left for the auction to end. Without ever seeing this coin before and not even knowing anything about this series I just could not resist it. I had no second thought and bought it right away.

I received the coin already and I must say that it is breathtaking. The photos you see on the web do not do justice. I sent it back for replacement since the package got damaged during the shipment and once I get it back I will post some photos.
 
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