Egyptian Gods Silver

Ultra High Relief Silver Rounds with Egyptian Mythology

The Egyptian Gods series is a ten-piece collection of 2 oz silver rounds depicting deities and historical figures from ancient Egypt, struck in ultra-high relief (UHR) that produces a sculptural three-dimensional quality impossible to achieve with standard bullion pressing. Every design in the series was created by Heidi Wastweet, an accomplished coin and medal designer with over 1,000 designs to her name, including 11 years as Chief Engraver at Sunshine Mint.

The series launched in autumn 2015 with Cleopatra, ran four designs through Sunshine Minting (the company that manufactures blank planchets for the US Mint), paused, then relaunched in 2021 with new subjects struck by SilverTowne Mint. All ten designs are now complete, from Cleopatra to Ra. Each round contains 2 troy ounces of .999 fine silver at 40.4 mm diameter and 4.4 mm thick, with a reeded edge and rimless blank that allows the artwork to extend to the very edge of the piece.

These are privately minted rounds, not government-issued coins. They carry no face value and are not legal tender in any jurisdiction. The appeal lies in the combination of generous silver content, limited mintages that declined steadily from 38,767 (Cleopatra) to just 8,004 (Ra), and the UHR strike process that requires extreme pressure and often multiple strikes per blank. The resulting depth of relief gives each piece a museum-quality feel that flat-struck bullion cannot replicate.

Each round features the same Egyptian figure on both sides, presented in contrasting styles. The obverse typically shows the subject in a hieroglyphic-inspired incised style reminiscent of ancient Egyptian carvings, while the reverse presents a more dynamic sculptural scene. This dual-portrait approach, consistent across all ten releases, gives the series an artistic coherence despite spanning two different mints over nearly a decade.

Egyptian Gods Round Specifications and Complete Mintage List

Complete Release List

The series divides into two production runs. The original four designs (2015) were struck by Sunshine Minting, and the relaunch series (2021 onward) by SilverTowne Mint. Mintage numbers show a clear downward trajectory, creating natural scarcity for later releases.

The inaugural Cleopatra round had the largest production at nearly 39,000 pieces. By the final release, Ra, production had fallen to just over 8,000. The relaunch saw a temporary spike with Osiris and Sekhmet (likely driven by pent-up demand after the hiatus), before resuming the downward trend. Secondary market premiums for the lowest-mintage releases, Khnum and Ra, are substantially higher than for Cleopatra or Osiris.

Tax Treatment of Egyptian Gods Silver Rounds

As privately minted silver rounds with no government backing or face value, the Egyptian Gods series receives no special tax treatment in any jurisdiction. Tax classification follows the rules for generic silver bullion.

• United Kingdom: Subject to 20% VAT on purchase. Not eligible for CGT exemption, which applies only to UK legal tender coins such as the Silver Britannia. The rounds may be available through VAT-free offshore vault storage schemes, though the niche collector nature of the series makes this less practical than for mainstream bullion.
• United States: The primary market for this series. No federal sales tax applies. State-level treatment varies; most of the approximately 35 states that exempt precious metals from sales tax include rounds meeting the .999 purity minimum. Capital gains on disposal are taxed at the collectibles rate of up to 28% for long-term holdings. Short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income. The rounds do not qualify for precious metals IRAs, as IRA eligibility requires coins or bars from government mints or COMEX-approved refineries.
• Canada: GST/HST exempt for silver bullion at 99.9% purity or above, regardless of legal tender status. The .999 purity qualifies. Capital gains are subject to the standard 50% inclusion rate.
• Australia: GST-free if meeting the investment precious metal definition (99.9% purity, tradeable form, manufacturer's mark). The .999 purity should qualify. Capital gains subject to standard CGT with a 50% discount for holdings over 12 months.
• Singapore: Silver rounds at .999 purity can qualify as Investment Precious Metal (IPM) for GST exemption if they meet the weight minimum (0.5 troy oz; the 2 oz weight easily qualifies). No capital gains tax.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax, no import duty, no capital gains tax.

From Cleopatra to Ra: A Decade of Egyptian Mythology in Silver

The Egyptian Gods series began in autumn 2015 when Provident Metals, then an independent bullion dealer, commissioned designer Heidi Wastweet and Sunshine Minting to create an ultra-high-relief silver round series based on Egyptian mythology. Wastweet's background was ideal for the project: she had served as Chief Engraver at Sunshine Mint for 11 years and lead designer at Global Mint for five, accumulating over 1,000 coin and medal designs across her career. For the first four releases, she was designing rounds at the same facility where they were struck.

Cleopatra, the inaugural release, established the series format: two contrasting depictions of the same figure on each side. The obverse showed Cleopatra in the incised style of ancient Egyptian carvings, with subtle movement suggested by negative space behind her neck. The reverse depicted the Goddess Isis, of whom Cleopatra was said to be the reincarnation. The 38,767-piece mintage was the series high point in production terms.

Anubis followed as the second release, depicting the jackal-headed god of death and mummification. Sobek, the crocodile god symbolising pharaonic power, was third. Khnum, one of the earliest Egyptian deities credited as the creator of human bodies, completed the original quartet with the lowest mintage of the initial run at 7,502 pieces. The series then went dormant.

The 2021 relaunch brought Osiris as the fifth design, now struck by SilverTowne Mint rather than Sunshine Minting. Provident Metals had by this point been acquired by the JM Bullion family, and distribution continued through that network. The god of fertility and the afterlife appeared partially mummified on the obverse, holding crook and flail with the Atef crown, and fully mummified before a pyramid tomb on the reverse. Subsequent releases covered Sekhmet (goddess of warfare, depicted wielding a sickle and in her lioness form), Horus (the falcon-headed sky god), Thoth (patron of scribes and wisdom), Wadjet (the cobra guardian of Ra and Horus), and finally Ra, the sun god shown riding his solar boat, completing the series with the most powerful deity in the Egyptian pantheon.

The rimless blank format is an unusual production choice. Most rounds and coins have a raised rim to protect the design during stacking. The rimless approach allows the UHR artwork to extend to the very edge of the piece, but it means the highest relief points are more exposed to contact wear. Some early releases have shown natural toning over time, which some collectors consider desirable rather than detrimental.

Egyptian Gods vs Competing Egyptian-Themed Silver

Several silver series draw on Egyptian mythology, but they differ substantially in format, legal status, and price positioning. The Egyptian Gods rounds sit at a specific point in this spectrum.

The Egyptian Relic series from Scottsdale Mint, struck for the Republic of Chad, offers sovereign-backed legal tender coins with an antique finish designed to look like archaeological artefacts. Available in 1 oz, 2 oz, and 5 oz weights, the Egyptian Relic coins carry CFA Franc face values and government backing that the Egyptian Gods rounds lack. Premiums on the Relic series tend to be higher, partly because of the legal tender status and partly because of the elaborate rimless "chiseled granite" edge treatment. For buyers who value government backing, the Relic series has the advantage; for buyers who prioritise artistic depth and the three-dimensional quality of ultra-high relief, the Egyptian Gods rounds deliver a more dramatic visual impact.

Monarch Precious Metals produces an Egyptian-themed series of hand-struck antiqued rounds and bars in fractional to 1 oz sizes. The hand-struck production makes every piece genuinely unique in alignment and patina, but the relief depth is substantially lower than the UHR process used for the Egyptian Gods rounds. Monarch's products target buyers seeking affordable, artisanal silver with character, at lower premiums than the Egyptian Gods command. The fractional sizes (1/10 oz, 1/4 oz) offer entry points that the 2 oz Egyptian Gods format does not provide.

Perth Mint's Gods of Olympus series provides the closest parallel in concept: mythology-themed collectible bullion with limited mintages. The key difference is sovereign backing, as the Perth Mint issues are Australian legal tender from Tuvalu. Perth Mint coins carry higher premiums and come with advanced security features including micro-laser engraving. The Egyptian Gods rounds compete on artistic merit and the UHR strike rather than on government credentials or security technology.

For buyers focused purely on 2 oz silver rounds as a bullion format, generic rounds from major mints cost substantially less per ounce. The Egyptian Gods premium reflects the UHR strike, the declining mintages, and the collector demand built over a decade of consistent releases. The lowest-mintage pieces, Khnum (7,502) and Ra (8,004), trade at secondary market premiums well above the series average, reflecting genuine scarcity in a market where most bullion products have functionally unlimited supply.