Humanoid robots, in many ways, represent the future of mankind and technology. The 21st century marked the incorporation of such robots into everyday life. Already, anthropomorphic bots intended for personal and commercial use are capable, to some degree, of interacting directly with humans in real time.
Inspired by this reality, Nick K., art director of Artisan Coin Productions, decided in April 2019 to create The Next Evolution series. The assemblage consists of five collectable coins that depict futuristic robots, which display the various senses and emotions that humanoid droids will be endowed with as technology evolves. Issued by Tokelau, the legal-tender coins will carry a denomination of 20 New Zealand dollars.
The pieces draw attention to the fact that humanity needs to prepare itself for a time when robots are able to love each other, as well as people. This is why the first coin of the series is called “Love” and symbolizes feelings of deep attachment, for man or machine.
The 3-ounce, .999-fine silver coin bears the inscription LOVE and portrays a close-up view of a pair of robots hugging. Both the male robot (gilded in 24kt gold) and the silver female bot display a proof and reverse proof finish. The background is rendered in obsidian black proof, which combines matte and glossy finishes (obsidian is a naturally occurring glass produced when volcanic lava cools rapidly). The obverse, also rendered in an obsidian-black-proof finish, features Ian Rank-Broadley’s effigy of Queen Elizabeth II in the center of a microchip. Inscribed on the edge are the name of the series and a unique serial number, along with CALIFORNIA, the location of the design studio.
Mintage of the 50mm, 93.3g coin is limited to 399—a high-end collector coin in all respects. An additional version that features an obsidian-black-proof finish throughout has a limited mintage of 99.
Both versions include numismatic black signature gloves to handle the coin and a luxurious box that doubles as a high-quality display frame with a double-sided window and a leatherette sleeve embossed with the name of the coin in gold lettering.
Nick K. says, “Such breakthrough technologies made me think about creating modern collectable coins. However, the coin itself must be made with breakthrough technology too. Therefore, we created the revolutionary minting technology known as Pinnacle Relief ©—the pinnacle of coin relief. The maximum coin thickness is 6.5mm that is used for the (robot pieces), giving them a three-dimensional perspective. And the 3 troy ounces of pure silver from which the coin is minted makes it not only a work of art, but also a collectable precious metal coin with a very low mintage that should grow in value.”
Thanks to augmented reality (AR) technology, a collector can use the smartphone application, AR Artisan Coins, to scan either side of the coin and see the piece come to life with sound and moving robots (visit Artisan Coin Productions’s YouTube channel or Instagram to view a video of this transformation).
People have grown to rely on computers and smartphones, and, at some point, we will place the same reliance on robots. Automatons will surround us, helping us or even replacing humans for certain tasks. Just last year, robot arms that can cook were put on the market.
Already, robots programmed with artificial intelligence surpass the abilities of humans in some arenas. Suitably, the year of the coin’s issue, 2021, marks the beginning of the third decade of the millennium, during which technological changes will take place that will impact daily life in ways we can only begin to imagine.
Reprinted with the permission of The Numismatist, official publication of the American Numismatic Association (www.money.org). We would like to thank Louis Golino, coin specialist and journalist from The Numismatist magazine for the information above. Link >
