The city-state of Sparta enjoyed a semi-mythic reputation for its invincible military for a span of several centuries that started with the Messenian War in the 8th century BC. It reached the heights of its fame during the Greco-Persian War, an epic clash between the Greek and Persian spheres of influence that saw Achaemenid Persia attempt to punish Greece (and Athens in particular) for supporting anti-Persian revolts in the east. At Thermopylae, the Spartans led the landward half of a dual land-and-sea attempt to defeat the Persians, and even though they were defeated, the myth of heroic resistance that surrounded the event lived on. Frank Miller’s comic book retelling300,and the film adapted from it, inspired the artwork on the 2023 Proof Cook Islands Sparta 1/2 Gram Gold Coin.

Highlights:

• Ships in an original mint capsule with a Certificate of Authenticity!
• Issued in 2023!
• Limited mintage of just 5,000 coins!
• Contains 1/2 Gram of .9999 pure gold
• Legal tender of the Cook Islands with a face value of $5 (NZD)
• Obverse side features an effigy of the late monarch Queen Elizabeth II
• Reverse side shows Spartan hoplites as portrayed in both the comic and film versions of300

The 2023 Gold Proof Cook Islands Sparta Coin features detailed engraved artwork of hoplites in the style of both Frank Miller’s iconic comic300and its movie adaptation. It ships with a Certificate of Authenticity in an original mint capsule, tracked and fully insured by the team at Provident Metals.

Obverse

The obverse side features the late British monarch Elizabeth II in an effigy that verifies it as legal tender of the Cook Islands. She’s accompanied with the inscriptions “Elizabeth II,” “5 Dollars,” “Cook Islands” and “2023.”

Reverse

The coin’s reverse side shows a group of Spartan hoplites in the bare-chested comic book style of Frank Miller’s work and its film adaptation by Zack Snyder. It is accompanied by the inscription “Sparta,” along with a decorative border inspired by classical Greek pottery.

History

Sparta’s time as a major power in the Mediterranean was relatively brief, declining in the face of competition from rival city-states like Athens and Thebes and then under the influence of Macedon and Rome, but the city-state’s prowess at myth-making preserved its reputation. During the Roman Empire, Sparta was able to recreate itself as a tourist destination that preserved a kind of museum version of its storied martial culture, and the myths it preserved were irresistible to those in later centuries with an appetite for tales of the heroism of the mighty Spartan hoplite. Frank Miller’s300is an example, a retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae.

Ordering

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