The Manx Noble are

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

bullion coin Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes fro ...

s distributed by the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

and minted by private companies. While platinum coins have been minted since the early 1800s, the Noble is the first platinum coin created for investors. The coins are not minted every year, but have an erratic schedule. Nobles are

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in ...

but they do not have a fixed face value; instead, like the

Krugerrand The Krugerrand (; ) is a South African coin, first minted on 3 July 1967 to help market South African gold and produced by Rand Refinery and the South African Mint. The name is a compound of ''Paul Kruger'', the former President of the South A ...

or Mexico's Libertad, they are legal tender to the value of their precious metal content.

Specifications

The platinum coins contains 99.5% platinum (.995 fine). The gold coins contains 99.99% gold (.9999 fine) and silver coins contains 99.9% silver (.999 fine).

Design

Obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

: It shows a portrait of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

with the text ''Isle of Man'' and ''Elizabeth II'' in capitals. There have been four different portraits of Queen Elizabeth used on the coins. The 1984 coin showed the second coin portrait, done when the Queen was in her early 40s. The third coin portrait, of the Queen in her 50s, was used between 1985 and 1997. The fourth portrait, of the 70-year old Queen, was used between 1998 and 2014. Since 2015, the fifth coin portrait has been used. Reverse: shows a

viking ship Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia from the Viking Age throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as bein ...

and four birds with the denomination. In small lettering beneath the ship, metal content, coin size and fineness are given. The design is framed by an elaborate Viking knit motif border with the island's coat of arms, the triskele, appearing at the top, above the ship's flag.

History

The first platinum coins regularly minted were Russian platinum rubles from 1828 to 1845. Only occasional

commemorative coin Commemorative coins are coins issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Many coins of this category serve as collectors items only, although some countries ...

s were minted till the 1970s when Isle of Man started regularly issuing commemorative platinum coins. Isle of Man has used three private mints to make their coins, the English Pobjoy Mint from 1983 until 2016, Liechtenstein's Coin Investment Trust (CIT) in 2017, and the 2018 version was minted by the English Tower Mint. Several one-off coins were minted. What is claimed to be the world's first holographic coin is a 1996 platinum Noble whose viking ship's sail is made from a patterned hologram. A one-quarter ounce bimetallic coin, ring made of gold with the center platinum, was minted in 1995. A one-ounce bimetallic coin, ring of silver with a center of gold, was produced in 2009. A one-ounce

palladium Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself ...

coin was issued in 2012. There were 26, five-ounce platinum coins minted in 1986 and another 15 coins in 1988. The same amount of ten-ounce platinum coins were also released in 1986 and 1988. The 2017 and 2018 silver coins came in both proof and reverse proof versions. The following table shows mintages of

proof coins Proof coinage refers to special early samples of a coin issue, historically made for checking the dies (as in demonstrating that something is true) and for archival purposes. Nowadays proofs are often struck in greater numbers specially for coi ...

unless noted with a (b). NR - Mintage numbers not released
(b) - Brilliant uncirculated finish. Not a proof coin

References

{{Reflist Birds on coins Ships on coins Bullion coins of the Isle of Man Gold bullion coins Silver bullion coins Platinum bullion coins Palladium bullion coins

Specifications

Design

History

See also

References