One of the most collectible dolls today is Barbie. The Barbie doll itself exists in a multitude of editions, some aimed directly at the collecting community. To celebrate Barbie's fiftieth anniversary, the prestigious Perth Mint produced a beautiful, colorized Barbie coin for the island nation of Tuvalu. This 2009 issue comes in proof condition, and is housed in a pink display case and a box. The coin is licensed by Mattel.
The Perth Mint also makes two coins that celebrate the Transformers movie. These coins are also legal tender for Tuvalu. The coins depict Megatron and Optimus Prime, and come housed in their individual display cases. These coins are also colorized. These coins are produced with agreements from Dreamworks and Hasbro.
The New Zealand Mint produced a four coin set in conjunction with the one hundred twentieth anniversary of the Sherlock Holmes. These sets, beautifully colorized, were released in 2007. They are proof-line. The box that accompanied each of these sets of coins was made in the image of a filmmaker's clapper-board. The coins are legal tender in the Cook Islands.
While the collecting community in the United States is probably the largest, some coins appeal primarily to residents of other nations. The New Zealand Mint produces the three proof Tintin coins for France. These coins bear the denomination of one and a half Euros. They commemorate a cartoon character, Tintin, whose cartoons were drawn by a Belgian artist, and were published in French.
The coins mentioned in this article are all quality pieces that appeal to multiple groups of collectors. They are made of fine silver, with the exception of the Tintin coins, which have a slightly lower purity. They are all limited edition pieces, and come with certificates of authenticity. The major mints must cap production low, and retain quality, or the incorporation of a subject that is itself collectible would be nullified.
