The Coins of Episode III

Rewards for the Faithful

Star Wars coins have attracted many collectors and have come in forms ranging from value added pack-ins to souvenirs and commeratives to minted precious metals.

It started with lightweight metal coins being packed in with action figures as incentives to purchase them. Today we're going to look at what new selections collectors have available to pick up.
Movie theaters in Japan gave away coins for Episode II in 2002 with Anakin Skywalker (Young Jedi) one one side and Darth Vader (Dark Lord of the Sith) on the other. This year Japanese fans who stood in line to see the movie first were rewarded with the first coin above... Darth Vader, Revenge of the Sith. The coin is protected by a plastic display case. At this time less than 10 have been sold by eBay participants and it's thought that the coin run was only 1,500.

The next coin was a give-away inside of care-package bags that Target took to theaters in major cities to hand out to fans who were faithfully standing in line waiting for the first showing of the final film. Inside were some basics... M&Ms, cereal, a beach ball, and a heavy minted coin! The front reads: ''May the Force be with you'' and on the back: ''Waiting in line is evidence of your devotion to the force, May 19, 2005''. The coin had a limited run of 30,000 and each coin is individually numbered. This is one of the heaviest coins minted for Star Wars collectors (similar in size and density as the Queen Amidala coin by Echo Base Toys).



Disney's annual Star Wars Weekends has been a consistant and reliable partner for collectors of Star Wars coins. Annually a design is created, and for each weekend of the event, the coin is available in a different metal. For 2005 the image is of Mickey Mouse's hand painting mouse ears on Darth Vader's helmet. The metals for 2005 are 24k gold, fine silver, nickel silver, and bronze. There is also a special .999 troy ounce sterling silver coin, and a framed set with all five coins. Each of the individual coins are limited to 1,000 pieces, the framed set is limited to 250 pieces, and no information is available on the number of sterling silver coins.



The California Lottery came up with a set of six coins, also referred to as 'scratchers' since they're meant to be used on California's scratch-off lottery cards. Two coins were released every 2 weeks for the six week promotion. Characters produced were: C-3PO, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, R2-D2, and Yoda. Currently the coins are plentiful on eBay at really low prices (Lowest: $10 for the set of six.) [Tip: Since overproduction has eliminated any secondary selling, this set will likely eventually sell off and then not be seen for quite a while. If you don't have a set, I recommend buying one at the lowest price available and sitting on it for a couple of years.]

Cards, Inc. in the U.K. has produced a wonderful collectible coin set called Medalionz. Medallions are blind packed 3 coins to packet and sold like trading cards through retail and hobby stores. The common coin color is silver, but randomly inserted are gold colored chase coins. The chase coins have the same images as the standard set and differ only in color. There's a collector's album which has holders for both sets of silver and gold coins. Cards, Inc. also produced 2000 special boxed sets. The special coins are copper colored and come mounted for presentation. These boxed sets are rare and difficult to come by. Expect to pay $150 for one of these, as compared to $45 for a completed set of silvers, or $100 for a completed set of golds.

For collectors who want to try to piece together a set, here's the checklist:

Jedi Knights emblem Sith Lords emblem Galactic Republic emblem Evil Separatists Anakin Skywalker Obi-Wan Kenobi Yoda Mace Windu Darth Vader Darth Sidious Count Dooku General Grievous

Battle Droid Padme Amidala C-3PO and R2-D2 Clone Trooper Jedi Starfighter Droid Tri-Fighter ARC-170 Fighter Republic Cruiser Darth Sidious vs. Yoda Anakin Skywalker vs. Obi-Wan Anakin Skywalker vs. Count Dooku