2023 Humpback Whale

Royal Australian Mint.
2023 1oz Silver Humpback Whale.

Excellent review Jon. I agree that there's no continuity between the mirror and frosted images. To keep things simple, the designer should've used one of those images to fill out the whole side. For the whale jumping out, better detail could've been added if the whole side was used. Personally, I like the mother and her calves.

I was comparing this coin with the Whale in the World's Wildlife series by the Geiger Mint for the Congo DR. The Congo coin shows a breaching whale in the middle of the ocean with lots of splashes and a distant horizon. There's no attempt to show anything under the surface, and it works very well indeed in my opinion. The RAM coin is I think trying to do too much, to show above and below the surface. As you point out Jon, to be accurate here the breaching whale's tail should have been shown behind the mother and two calves, but there is a very hard division between the two scenic planes, almost as if the artist was trying to show two completely separate scenes. I think it comes across as a bit clumsy, but the coin is an attractive piece overall. I still like the penguins more though.

Thanks both of you.

The breaching whale confused me... I like the overall design but then at the end I had to state it.. There are essentially 2 coin designs there as mentioned above by TCM.

The breaching whale,
and the Mother and babies.

Pick one and don't confuse a diver! Simple!

@Admin : How to confuse a diver. Show him two whales and tell him to take his pick.

The breaching whale
Has lost his tail.
The cow and calves have hid it.
The tail's on sale
But, luckless whale,
An octopus outbid it.
The tailless whale
Can only wail
Revenge on those who did it.

The Cat's Mother wrote: @Admin : How to confuse a diver. Show him two whales and tell him to take his pick.

The breaching whale
Has lost his tail.
The cow and calves have hid it.
The tail's on sale
But, luckless whale,
An octopus outbid it.
The tailless whale
Can only wail
Revenge on those who did it.

I think your drowning in your own joke.
but sinking so low has really made a frog croak.
diving deep into the logistics of this coin has left you in the dark
perhaps its a stormy reply but arrrhhhh matey that joke blows.

I wouldnt dream of giving up my day job. It is soo difficult being in pain on a regular basis.

The thought of a pain free day would just be ummm oooh I am dreaming of giving up now.. lol

I wrote it as a joke
But a large and hairy bloke
Has decided to go head to head with me
Despite his lack of rhyme
Dodgy spelling, all the time,
And a metre that's as dodgy as can be.
I have to make reply:
Jon, your 'verses' make me cry
Could you stick to mangling purely orally.

The Cat's Mother wrote:I wrote it as a joke
But a large and hairy bloke
Has decided to go head to head with me
Despite his lack of rhyme
Dodgy spelling, all the time,
And a metre that's as dodgy as can be.
I have to make reply:
Jon, your 'verses' make me cry
Could you stick to mangling purely orally.

I am the king of Mangling.