Isle of Man Angel

The Manx Angel are gold or silver bullion coins distributed by the Isle of Man and minted by private companies. The Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom. It is a Crown dependency and thus can mint its own coins. The coin depicts Archangel Michael slaying a dragon. The silver coins have not been minted every year, but has an erratic schedule. Angels are legal tender but they do not have a fixed face value; instead, like the Krugerrand or Mexico's Libertad, they are legal tender to the value of their precious metal content. The gold coins contain various amount of fineness. Depending on the year and the coin's size, it could contain 91.7% gold (.917 fine), 99.9% gold (.999 fine) or 99.99% gold (.9999 fine). The silver coins either contain 99.9% silver (.999 fine) or 99.99% silver (.9999 fine).

In 1984, the Isle of Man began production of a new bullion series featuring an Angel representing St. Michael and the dragon. This British island nation commissioned the world renowned Pobjoy Mint in London to strike the modern Angel coin series. The Pobjoy Mint is one of the oldest and most respected private mints in the world, and the design that they created for the Angel series immediately garnered a Coin of the Year award in its very first year. Since 1984, an exciting array of Angel coins have been struck in Gold, Silver, Palladium, and Platinum. These coins are official legal tender and are struck in pure precious metal.

Prior to 2014, the Angel series was only struck in silver during 1995 when a Proof silver coin was issued. In 2014, the Pobjoy Mint has issued a one Troy ounce Silver Angel struck in 99.9% pure silver in Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) condition. The coin's reverse features a dramatically-sculpted image of St. Michael the Archangel battling a fierce dragon. This classic depiction of the triumph of Good over Evil appeared on the very first Pobjoy Angel coin in 1984, and was awarded the prestigious "Coin of the Year Award" for excellence. The obverse of this coin features the regal portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The coin was only struck in BU condition during the years 2014 and 2015. For other years, the coin was issued in proof and reverse proof. Pobjoy Mint ceased producing the series in 2016. It is now minted by Tower Mint. Mintages for the bullion issues have not been released.

Silver Bullion Mintage

Design

Obverse: The obverse shows a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with the text Isle of Man and Elizabeth II in capitals. There have been four different portraits of Queen Elizabeth used on the coins. The 1984 coin showed the second coin portrait, done when the Queen was in her early 40s. The third coin portrait, of the Queen in her 50s, was used between 1985 and 1997. The fourth portrait, of the 70-year old Queen, was used between 1998 and 2014. Since 2015, the fifth coin portrait has been used.

Reverse: The reverse shows Archangel Michael fighting the dragon. In small lettering beneath the dragon, metal content, coin size and fineness are given. The design is framed by an elaborate Viking knit motif border with the island's coat of arms, the triskele, appearing at the top, above the ship's flag. The motif of Michael or a Saint slaying a dragon is found in other coins. Michael is used in Ukraine's Archangel Michael gold and silver bullion coins. Russia's Saint George the Victorious bullion coins show Saint George slaying a dragon. The United Kingdom's Sovereign gold bullion also show Saint George fighting a dragon. There have been three primary designs for the Angel. From 1984 to 1993, the Angel faced left. From 1994 to 2007, the Angel faced right. In 2008 and from 2010 to 2015, the Angel still faced right, but in a more upright position. The Angel changed back to the left facing pose starting in 2016. Some left facing coins were produced in 2014. The 2009 version of the coin had three different designs that haven't been produced before or since.