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The First Angels:
The image of Archangel Michael slaying the Dragon or serpent appears in numerous works of classical art and literature spanning many centuries. The depiction of St. Michael slaying the Dragon has been a popular symbol of good triumphing over evil. Around 1342, it appeared on the French Gold Angel coin for the first time; and Britain in the late 15th century, during the reign of King Edward IV, was introduced on the English Gold Angel coin. In 1526 King Henry VIII began to use the Gold Angel coins as gifts on special state occasions. Angels were then treasured as touch pieces which their owners would rub to bring them good fortune and were even used as healing charms or amulets to help ward off such aliments as King’s Evil (scrofula). Angel coins were often pierced in the center to be worn around the neck as pendent or appropriated as jewelry, which is still a common practice today. Angel coins of varying designs were produced in England into the early 1600’s and ended prior to the reign of Charles II.
Decimalization of IOM coinage:
The decimalization of British coinage was discussed as early as the 1820’s but momentum for decimalization did not begin to build until the 1960’s when a number of Commonwealth countries had gone decimal - Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In 1966 it was announced that Britain would change to a decimal system and The Decimal Currency Board (DCB) was created to manage the transition. The changeover between currencies was a gradual process, the first 5p and 10p coins were introduced essentially replacing the 1 and 2 shilling coins. In 1969 a 50p coin was introduced replacing the 10-shilling note and finally in 1971, the transition was complete when the ½p, 1p and 2p coins were introduced. The Isle of Man, being in a one-sided de facto currency union with the United Kingdom, quickly decimalized their coins and currency to match that of the UK. In 1970 Tynwald (the legislative body or parliament of the Isle of Man) approved the Manx Decimal Coins Act of 1970, there by completing the transition to decimal coinage, clearing the way for the first Manx decimal coins to be issued since 1859. In 1971 The Isle of Man released 1/2p, 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p and 50p coins which were all of the same composition and size as the corresponding British coins. The British Royal Mint produced the first Manx decimal coins in 1971, followed by Pobjoy Mint who won the contract from the BRM and started production of Manx coinage and commemoratives in 1972, the partnership between the Isle of Man and Pobjoy lasted until 2016 when production was moved from the Pobjoy Mint to Tower Mint in London, which still produces coins for the Isle of Man as of 2024. Pobjoy closed its doors in November of 2023. The Manx Decimal Coins Act of 1970 is the legislative springboard from where the Angel coins were launched.
First Release:
The Isle of Man (IOM) Angel coinage was approved on October 16, 1984 by Tynwald (the legislative body or parliament of the Isle of Man), under The Manx Decimal Coins (Gold Angel Coins) Order 1984 (The Order of 1984). The Angel bullion coinage was approved and released by the Finance Board of the IOM under the power given the Board in Section 2 of the Manx Decimal Coins Act of 1970 (The Act of 1970). In the Order of 1984 Tynwald approved denominations of ten & five Angels, one Angel and fractionals of one half, one quarter and one tenth Angel. In the Order of 1984 Tynwald also specified the compositions, denominations, diameters, weights in gold and designs for both the obverse and reverse of the coins. The coins were released later that year and in 1985 were distributed in the U.S. exclusively by Keogh-Rulau Galleries which was the sole distributer in the U.S. for the Pobjoy Mint.
Krugerrand Killer:
The gold Angel, in part, was intended to compete head-to-head with the South African Krugerrand. The IOM Angle was identical in diameter, weight, and fineness but, unlike the Krugerrand, the IOM Angel contained no South African gold, which was hoped to enhance its appeal to those who balked at buying Krugerrands because of South Africa’s racial policies at the time. The IOM Angel was also competing with Canada’s Gold Maple Leaf and Mexico’s gold 50-Peso restrike for market share against the Krugerrand but the Maple Leaf failed to grab market share due to its fineness (.999), which wore more easily making it less satisfactory for jewelry purposes (the Krugerrand and Angle were both 22 karat (.9167) fine), and the Mexican 50-Peso was shunned in part due to being “overweight”, weighing slightly more than an ounce, which made it more difficult to calculate the coin’s value and cost, as opposed to coins whose gold content came to exactly an ounce or an increment of (the Krugerrand and Angle both contained 31.103g gold or one troy ounce). The U.S. even had a competitor at the time, a five-year-long series of American Arts gold medallions, but not being legal tender squashed any hope of the medals taking over the marketplace. Alternatively, the gold Angel fare very well against the Krugerrand, helped in part by several countries having embargos in place on South African Krugerrands. For many years the IOM Angel was the gold bullion coin of choice for some of the world's largest bullion traders, earning it the nickname 'Krugerrand Killer'. In the end none could catch up to the head start the Krugerrand had and eventually all fell victim to the American Gold Eagle which was soon to follow in 1986.
A Collector Coin:
The IOM Angels are still considered to be a bullion or investment piece, but they are becoming more popular with collectors and are highly sought after for touch pieces or jewelry adornment as well as by coin collectors. The IOM Angles have seen many changes to their design since the first release in 1984, having now had five different effigies of Queen Elizabeth II along with design changes to the reverse in 1985, 1988, 1994 and 2008. There are also numerus privy marked pieces and special designations. The IOM Angles have had many innovative design elements and metal compositions over the years, including changing the fineness to .999 in 1994, a 1 and 5 ounce silver Angel in 1995, first high relief gold angel in 2007, a Bi-metallic in 2009, first high relief platinum Angel in 2010, first Palladium Angel in 2011 and two coin design in 2009. In 1986 the IOM Angel was awarded Best Gold Coin Of The Year for 1984 by Krause Publications, as the major coin awards are judged using the coins that were issued two years prior to the year of the award, so as to include late releases. The vast array of weights and metal types means that there is a coin to fit every collector’s budget. This is still a classic coin with a classic design, one worthy of taking center stage in any collection.
A Little More About 1/10oz Angels:
The 1/10oz Gold Angel coins are not well documented, the Standard Catalog of World Coins, Coins of the Isle of Man, NGC, PCGS, or Numista, to name a few, all have errors or omissions in their listings, in addition to incorrect designations and labeling by TPGs,. information in general is extremely difficult to come by as Pobjoy has either destroyed all production records and/or there were none to begin with, and with the closing of Pobjoy at the end of November 2023, there will be little hope of acquiring any additional information. Only those few collectors, who by acquisition and research, will be able to piece the complete story of these coins together.
As was standard practice at Pobjoy, all proof coins are struck four times, this is stated on the Certificates of Authenticity accompanying most of their coins by the description Proof4, but there were also “circulation” strikes and “Proof-Like” strikes. The Proof-Like coins were struck twice and described as either Prooflike2, or STRIKE: Double, FINISH: Prooflike, this practice has led to some confusion as Proof-Like2 pieces are very similar in appearance to Proof4 coins. Further uncertainty exists with the “circulation” strike coins as they were also produced to a very high level and are sometimes labeled as Proofs, sometimes even given Cameo or Deep Cameo designations. I suspect, but have no documentation, that the flans for the “circulation” and Proof-Like2 coins were the same as for the proofs, also, I wouldn’t be surprised if the “circulation” coins were struck twice and that dies were manufactured and prepared in a similar fashion as the ones used for the Proof-Like2 and Proof4 coins. The “circulation” stuck coins will not have the same amount of contrast between the devices and fields as the Proof-Like2 and Proof4 coins, and likewise the Proof-Like2 coins will have less contrast than the Proof4’s but it is very difficult to tell sometimes. However, Poof-Like coins can be identified in a much simpler way, my research indicates that the only Proof-Like2 1/10 Angels struck were the pieces with the Privy Marks A, C, F, H, L, T, & X, as pieces with these privy marks were struck in multiple years they will constitute a large portion of a complete collection. Understandably, there are many Proof-Like2 coins labeled as Proof4's and while Proof-Like2 coins will be very similar in appearance to Proof4's, including frosted devices and cameo contrast, deep cameo contrast, technically they were not produced as Proof's but it is understandable that they are typically designated as such. Especially since most Proof coins from other countries are typically struck twice and have similar features, the striking of Proof coins four times and Proof-Like coins twice was uncommon at the time and possibly unique to Pobjoy.
Additionally, there are two different varieties, Type 1 (full wings) and Type 2 (clipped wings). I believe the intention of having two different designs was to, one, differentiate between circulation and proof coins, two, to provide additional room for privy marks. The two varieties are confirmed to exist for the years ’84, ’85, & ’86, with additional years being likely and proofs of both types are known for the same years. There are no known Type 1, 1/10, proof Angels with privy marks. All gold Angle coins larger than 1/10 are normally of the Type 1 variety, but not always, all gold Angel coins smaller that 1/10 have only been of the Type 2 variety, with only the 1/10 Angels constantly flip-flopping between designs.
Some characteristics indicative of a well struck coin are, on the obverse, sharp definition in the strands of hair, the nape of the neck is complete and unbroken, the finials on the crown are connected to the base and not floating, and all around good definition. On the reverse, well defined inner feathers on both the Angel's wings, the presence/visibility of the inner most primary feather on the Angel's left wing, complete webbing on the Dragon's right wing connecting the two spines near his tail, and overall good detail. Also be weary of sloppy die preparation in regards to the frosting of the devices, quite often the frosting will be missing from areas or poorly applied in areas such as between the primary feathers on the Angel's left wing.
Finally, these coins were often the victims of melting at the mint, if there were unsold pieces left after a certain period. One documented occurrence happened with the 1991, ANA privy, 1/10 Angel, with 299 of the 400 minted being melted. I suspect that there were additional undocumented instances of the melting of surplus which would mean there are even fewer survivors than the mintages would suggest, after taking attrition into consideration.
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