October 11, 2018 – The new version of the laughing Buddha, which CIT Coin Invest presents after the great success of the preceding 2017 edition, was designed for the Republic of Palau and unites a wealth of innovative minting technologies to turn a beloved motif into a small numismatic artwork.
Republic of Palau / 10 dollars / silver .999 / 2 oz / 38.61 mm / Mintage: 888.
Let’s begin with the complex combination of high relief minting with smartminting© and the precise gilding of the laughing Buddha motif, minted in spectacularly high relief. The stylized Lotus flower and the background of the coin are kept in Black Proof to emphasize the color contrast. The fine relief of the background, which serves as a counterpoint to the high relief, presents a technical challenge, which has been mastered on this coin.
A statue pf Budai at the Vinh Trang Temple in Vietnam. Photo: Milei.vencel / CC BY-SA 3.0.
The complex technology-mix was one of the major factors that contributed to the popularity of the 2017 Laughing Buddha. But evidently the motif itself is also attractive: The monk, named Budai after its alms bag, who is known as the “Laughing Buddha” in Chinese folklore, is an important figure in Zen-Buddhism in particular. In his bag he brings abundance, wealth, and joy. At the same time, his happy nature symbolizes that even the poor man can feel carefree and content.
If you want to get a closer look at this coin, watch this film.
To learn more about the coin, please visit the official Coin Invest website.
And if you ever wondered about the difference between what might seem a fat and a skinny Buddha watch this video.