Voices of the Skies - Birdlife Collection

Voices of the Air: Six Birds, Six Troy Ounces of Fine Silver

A hummingbird hovering before a blossom. A golden eagle on a gnarled oak branch. A dove with an olive branch, a laughing kookaburra, plus two brilliantly coloured Australians based on illustrations by the famous bird painter John Gould. The "Voices of the Air" collection brings together six limited silver coins from the 2026 year of issue. Each weighs a full troy ounce, each was struck in Proof quality, and together they add up to 186.6 grams of fine silver.

What makes this collection so appealing? It combines two very different ways of depicting birds in metal. On one side are pure silver reliefs that work solely with light and shadow. On the other, colourful designs shine, based on historic book illustrations. Side by side in a display case, they resemble a small natural history museum made of silver.

• Six designs, one theme: birdlife from Europe to the Americas to Australia
• Small mintages: between 500 and 1,000 pieces per coin
• Finish: Proof throughout
• Two stylistic approaches: pure silver relief and colour finishing
• Legal tender: issued for Liberia and Niue

The Six Coins of the Collection

Four Silver Reliefs Struck for Kettner

Kettner Edelmetalle had four coins of the set struck in Germany. They were issued for the Republic of Liberia, each with a face value of 20 Dollars. All four are made of fine silver at 999.9/1,000 and measure 40 mm in diameter.

• Hummingbird 2026 (mintage 500, prism finish): Feathers and petals are broken down into angular facets, similar to a cut crystal. Turning the coin sends points of light travelling across the plumage. The reverse shows the hummingbird hovering before an open blossom, while the obverse depicts it resting on a branch.
• Golden Eagle 2026 (mintage 500): The bird of prey perches watchfully on a gnarled oak branch. The reverse shows it coming in to land with wings fully spread. For comparison: the previous year's issue had a mintage of 5,000 pieces.
• Dove of Peace 2026 (mintage 999): The dove spreads both wings and carries an olive branch with olives in its claws. Mirror-polished and frosted tendrils give the image depth, while a tree of life grows on the reverse.
• Kookaburra 2026, Australian Wildlife Series (mintage 1,000): The "Laughing Jack" calls out with its beak wide open, surrounded by dot-art ornamentation and the Southern Cross. The obverse brings together kangaroo, koala, emu and wombat beneath a starry sky.

What these four strikings share is a strong contrast. The background gleams like a dark mirror, while the birds stand out from it with a frosted, sculptural finish. Especially when light falls at an angle, you keep discovering new details, from the eagle's eye to the tiny stamens of the hummingbird's blossom.

Splendid Colour After John Gould

John Gould, born in England in 1804, ranks among the most important ornithologists of the 19th century. Together with his wife Elizabeth, he created "The Birds of Australia", the first comprehensive illustrated work on the continent's birdlife. Two coins in the collection draw on his depictions and bear the privy mark "JG". Both are 1 Dollar coins from Niue featuring the portrait of King Charles III, struck in 999/1,000 silver and limited to 750 pieces each.

• Pale-Headed Rosella: Three parakeets in brilliant yellow, blue and green sit on silver eucalyptus branches. Diameter 40 mm.
• Blue-Breasted Fairy-Wren: Cobalt-blue plumage, chestnut-brown shoulders and finely engraved grasses. Struck by the art mint B.H. Mayer, diameter 38.60 mm.

Proof Quality: The Finish Matters

All six coins come in Proof quality. For this, dies and blanks are polished to a high shine, resulting in a mirrored background with sharply defined relief. We explain the finish and the particular features of each individual issue in detail on the respective product pages. Our care tip: never touch Proof coins with bare fingers, and it is best to leave them in their protective packaging. Even a single fingerprint can permanently dull the flawless surface.

Plumage, wings and quills come alive through light. Only the mirrored background of Proof quality truly brings out these fine details.

Set or Individual Purchase? An Honest Comparison

Of course, all six coins can also be purchased individually. The set, however, saves you the search. With mintages of just 500 or 750 pieces, an issue can sell out quickly, and anyone who misses a design is later left relying on the secondary market. Here, you get everything in one go.

Classic bullion coins such as the Maple Leaf or Krugerrand pursue a different goal. They are issued in large quantities and are well suited to collecting ounces as close as possible to the metal price. Their advantage lies in easy tradability. The "Voices of the Air" collection, by contrast, carries a higher premium over pure material value, but offers rarity, design variety and genuine minting artistry in return. One small difference lies in the detail: four coins are struck in 999.9 silver, while the two Gould issues are struck in 999 silver.

Who Is This Collection For?

For design collectors who specifically gather birds and animals, this set offers a quick way to a complete small collection. Fans of Australian motifs will find no fewer than three representatives of the fifth continent. And for anyone looking for a gift with lasting value, this is also the right choice: the Dove of Peace, for example, is a popular design for christenings, communions or confirmations, while the eagle has always stood for strength and vision.

Silver: A Metal with History

Gold is humanity's oldest currency and has outlasted every paper currency. Silver stood alongside it for millennia, as coinage metal, trade good and store of value. Many collectors therefore value physical silver as a tangible asset and as a building block for inflation hedging and crisis preparedness. Under current German law, profits from the sale of physical silver are tax-free after a holding period of more than one year. With this collection, however, the joy of collecting is clearly at the centre.

Technical Data at a Glance

• Contents: 6 silver coins of 1 troy ounce each
• Total fine weight: 186.6 g (6 × 31.1 g)
• Total gross weight: 186.66 g
• Fineness: 4 × 999.9/1,000, 2 × 999/1,000
• Diameter: 5 × 40 mm, 1 × 38.60 mm
• Face values: 4 × 20 Dollars (Liberia), 2 × 1 Dollar (Niue)
• Year of minting: 2026
• Finish: Proof
• Condition: Brand new, delivered via insured shipping

Whether as a gift for bird lovers or as the centrepiece of your own collection: with "Voices of the Air", you bring home six of the most beautiful bird designs of the 2026 year of issue in one go.