The Germania Mint offers a growing range of silver rounds for investors and collectors, and in 2020 those options are increasing once again as the new Germania Beasts Series debuts. Following the debut of the Germania and Allegories Series in 2019, the mint is showcasing its creativity by offering the new Germania Beasts Fafnir design with a traditional BU silver round and two distinctive collectible options with very low mintages. Now is your chance to learn more about the Germania Beasts Fafnir debut and purchase the firsts from this mint.
Fafnir Obverse
The obverse side of the 1 oz Silver 2020 Beasts Fafnir Rounds from the Germania Mint features the upper body of Fafnir. This serpent-like Fafnir is shown with his body snaking through the design element. His front legs rest at the bottom of the design field as he raises his head and opens his mouth to expose razor-sharp teeth and forked tongue. The design field includes inscriptions of “Fafnir” and “1 oz Ag 999.9.”
Fafnir Reverse
On the reverse field of the Silver 2020 Beasts Fafnir Rounds is a depiction of the other half of Fafnir. In this design, his body is shown winding to the tip of its tail. The lower body of Fafnir circles around the design field until it reaches the very tip, with the body encircling the seal of the Germania Mint. The Germania Mint logo features a double-headed eagle with corkscrew-like arrows in its talons. The double-headed eagle is rooted in Roman mythology and is associated with Janus, the guardian of passageways. The Roman Empire used the double-headed eagle in its seals, particularly for its military units. Early Germanic tribes would also use the double-headed eagle in cultural symbolism, and in the 19th century, it again became a popular design theme used by the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Russian Empire in the design of their respective coats of arms. The inscriptions on this side of the silver round include “5 Mark” and “Germania 2020.”
Germania Beasts Fafnir Options
The Germania Mint has previously issued its .9999 pure silver rounds with multiple options for each given design. In The Allegories, for example, it offered the individual designs with 1 oz, 2 oz, 5 oz, and even 10 oz weights for investors to purchase. In the new Germania Beasts Series, however, the Germania Mint is going in a different direction by offering three visually-distinctive designs for collectors. The 1 oz Silver 2020 Beasts Fafnir Round is a Brilliant Uncirculated specimen with mirror-like finishes. New releases for this series include the 2x 1 Silver 2020 Germania Beasts Fafnir Round Set with two individual 1 oz silver rounds and the 2 oz Silver 2020 Germania Beasts Fafnir Ultra High Relief Round with 2 Troy oz of .9999 pure silver.
What sets these two additional options apart from previous collections at the mint are the visual finishes to each one. The design elements on the obverse and reverse of these two rounds are the same as the 1 oz BU round. However, the visual elements and details deliver a unique appearance. The ultra-high-relief round has a ruthenium plating on the entire background field with a “chameleon” finish to the body of Fafnir that creates shimmer and changes the colors of the body as the viewing angle of the round changes.
For the 2 x 1 oz Silver Germania Beasts Fafnir Set, you receive two individual 1 oz silver rounds that have opposite finishes on the individual obverse and reverse fields. Were you to place any two Fafnir Rounds end-to-end with one another, you would see that Fafnir’s body on the obverse and reverse fields connect together to form a figure-eight shape. In the 2 x 1 set, one round has a gold-plated body on the obverse with a ruthenium background and a ruthenium-plated body on the reverse and gold background. The other round in the set has opposing finishes: ruthenium body on the obverse with gold background and gold body on the reverse with a ruthenium background. As such, if you line up the obverse of one round with the reverse of the other, the visual finishes will match up to one another forming a complete, cohesive view of Fafnir’s body in the design.
Details of the Fafnir Silver Round Releases
Each one of the three options in the new Germania Beasts Fafnir release has its own release details, mintages, and packaging. The individual 1 oz silver rounds in the BU version and 2 x 1 set have a nominal value of 5 Mark, while the 2 oz ultra high relief has a value of 10 Mark. The 1 oz BU round arrives in a protective capsule with a Certificate of Authenticity and a maximum mintage of 25,000 silver rounds.
The 2 oz ultra high relief comes inside of a beautiful acrylic glass display and includes a wooden stand for presentation purposes. The ultra-high-relief round is created by striking the initial silver blank with the design die several times under intense pressure. This creates the visual effect of a deeper background field with greater 3D relief on the design element. In this case, Fafnir’s body takes on more dimension as you view the round at a flatter angle. The entire set (round, display, and wooden stand) arrive inside of the Germania Mint’s custom-made Qureco, a unique eco-carton. The ultra-high relief is available with a maximum mintage of only 999 rounds.
Finally, the 2 x 1 set ships with blistercards for the rounds and a Certificate of Authenticity. The set ships together inside of the Germania Mint’s first-ever fully-colorized presentation shipper. The maximum mintage on the two-round set is just 500.
Backstory on the dragon Fafnir
The tale of Fafnir comes from Icelandic sagas of the late-13th century. He is said to have been born a dwarf with a powerful arm and a fearless soul. After running afoul of a cursed gold ring, Fafnir is transformed into a dragon and spends the remainder of his days guarding his father’s golden house. Interestingly enough, Fafnir is said to have been the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Smaug in the book “The Hobbit.” Smaug is a gold-loving dragon who invades the city under the mountain where dwarves reside in order to steal their golden treasures.
Collect Your Fafnir Rounds at Provident Metals
All three of the Germania Beasts Fafnir Silver Rounds are available to investors and collectors for purchase at Provident Metals, but with low mintage figures across the series, don’t expect these options to stay in stock for long. Please contact us if you have any questions. We are available on the phone at 800-313-3315, on the web using our live chat, and via our email address. Remember to follow us on Facebook and check-in each week with our blog for more in-depth details on new releases.
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