Record return on Doctor Who 50th anniversary coin

TARDIS delivers record return on Doctor Who 50th anniversary coin

15 July, 2013

An international bidding frenzy has a seen a silver Dr Who 50th anniversary commemorative coin sell for more than 15 times its $155 face value.

The coin, made of .999 silver and struck by New Zealand Mint in collaboration with BBC Worldwide, features an engraved picture of the iconic TARDIS as well as a unique 50th Anniversary logo.

The coin, with a certificate authenticating it as the first of a limited 10,000 mintage, sold on e-Bay for NZ$2,600.00 to a Canadian bidder – a 1577 per cent increase on the normal retail price.

“We put the first eight coins up for auction just to see how much interest there would be and it turns out quite a bit,” says NZ Mint Head of Sales and Marketing Brent Hindman.

“The normal retail price for all eight coins was $1240 but collectively they sold for just a little less than $6500. It just goes to show how much passion is out there for the Dr Who series,” Hindman says.

The auction for the number one coin, which comes packaged in a 3D model replica of the TARDIS, attracted 39 bids.

NZ Mint says all profits from the auctions would go towards supporting its annual initiative of sending two students from the island of Niue to Outward Bound. The coins are legal tender for $2 in the South Pacific Island nation Niue.

Doctor Who first aired on the BBC in 1963 and originally ran for 26 series, until 1989. The show was revived in 2005 and has continued to captivate a broad audience, from young children and families to nostalgic viewers and sci-fi fanatics.

New Zealand was the second country outside of the UK to broadcast the show which celebrates its 50th anniversary on 23 November this year.

About New Zealand Mint
New Zealand Mint has been minting legal tender commemorative coins, gold bullion and medallions for more than four decades. As New Zealand's only precious metal mint and one of the first world mints to adopt the .9999 standard for gold coin purity, New Zealand Mint prides itself on high quality design and production work. In 2009, New Zealand Mint opened the Bullion Exchange, the first of its kind in New Zealand which offers a comprehensive service for buying and selling gold and silver bullion as well as on-site insured storage. Leading the way with innovative, colored, silver and gold commemorative coins, New Zealand Mint is known globally for quality and design excellence. New Zealand Mint also produces several ranges of jewelry that cater to many tastes and styles, including the Boh Runga and Trelise Cooper for New Zealand Mint collections.

ENDS

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