The New Zealand Mint has issued two coins featuring a depiction of Mickey Mouse from his first cartoon with synchronized sound, Steamboat Willie, which was released in 1928.
Steamboat Willie was fewer than 8 minutes long, but it was the first production to bring fame to Walt Disney and his Walt Disney Company, which was founded five years earlier, in 1923. Today, Steamboat Willie is recognized today as one of the greatest cartoons of all time.
New Zealand Mint’s “Disney Bullion: Steamboat Willie” coins’ reverse design captures a frame from the iconic scene in which Mickey Mouse is seen standing cheerfully at the boat’s wheel. It also features the metal weight, quality and Disney copyright. The obverse features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.
The $250 gold coin has a weight of one Troy ounce; a diameter of 33 mm; a mintage of 25,000 pieces.
The $2 silver coin has a weight of one Troy ounce; a diameter of 40 mm; a mintage of 250,000 pieces; and a Brilliant Uncirculated finish. The $250 gold coin has a weight of one Troy ounce; a diameter of 33 mm; a mintage of 25,000 pieces; and a Brilliant Uncirculated finish.
The one-ounce silver coins are packaged in tubes of 25 coins within a themed monster box of 250 coins, and the one-ounce gold coins are individually packaged in capsules or supplied in wraps of 10 coins.