Walt Disney first introduced the world to Mickey Mouse in 1928 with the release of the Steamboat Willy animated short. The New Zealand Mint is tracking the changes of Mickey through the decades in the Mickey Mouse Through the Ages collection of coins, and now releases another exciting installment in the series. Today, the 2016 ½ Gram Niue Mickey Mouse The Band Concert Series Proof Gold Coin is available for purchase from JM Bullion.

Coin Highlights:

• Ships encapsulated in a colorized, printed card with The Band Concert
• Maximum mintage set at 5,000 coins for global distribution.
• Part of the Mickey Mouse Through the Ages Series.
• Contains ½ Gram (.016 Troy oz) of .9999 pure gold.
• Face value of $2.50 (NZD) is fully backed by the government of Niue.
• Obverse features the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
• Reverse bears the image of Mickey Mouse as bandleader.
• Back of the colorized, printed card includes Certificate of Authenticity.

The world fell in love with Mickey Mouse almost immediately following the release of Steamboat Willy, and Walt Disney had a star product on his hands with the small, lovable character. Over the course of next 10 decades, Mickey has remained the most popular Disney character.

Mickey Mouse Through the Ages is a coin series from the New Zealand Mint that is part of the greater Disney Classics catalog of silver and gold coins. The 2016 ½ Gram Niue Mickey Mouse The Band Concert Series Proof Gold Coin celebrates Mickey in the 1930s as he appeared in The Band Concert.

Released in 1935, the animated short The Band Concert was the first Disney cartoon released in color. In the short, Mikey features as the leader of a band that struggles to perform the William Tell Overture as Donald Duck, who features as a concessions vendor desperate to join the band, interferes with the playing of “Turkey in the Straw.”

On the reverse side of each 2016 ½ Gram Niue Mickey Mouse The Band Concert Series Proof Gold Coin is the image of Mickey Mouse serving as the bandleader in the animated short. His image is accompanied by a soap box, sheets of music, and musical notes floating around in the air.

The obverse of the coin bears the familiar right-profile portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. First created in 1998 by Ian Rank-Broadley, this serves as the fourth-generation image of Her Majesty used since she ascended to the throne in 1952.

Each of these coins comes from the New Zealand Mint, a privately owned facility located in Auckland. These coins ship inside colorized, printed cards that feature images of Mickey as the bandleader, with the Certificate of Authenticity information on the reverse.

Please feel free to contact JM Bullion with questions at 800-276-6508, connect with us online using our live web chat, or send us an email.