Hit the Open Road with New CIT Coins
CIT Coin Invest has produced a pair of coins designed to honor the Open Roads of the world and the drivers who love them. This coin issue is for all…
CIT Coin Invest has produced a pair of coins designed to honor the Open Roads of the world and the drivers who love them. This coin issue is for all those drivers and collectors for whom the journey is the reward and the real pleasure. It is a profound truth that roads open the eyes and the heart of the traveler. With the Open Roads – Open Hearts coins, CIT and Cook Islands hope to capture some of the feeling, lifestyle and worldview that comes with a love of the open road.
At the heart of this wanderlust are the big and powerful road cruisers of the Buick line. When I first saw this the $10 black silver proof Open Roads – Open Hearts coin I thought of the Buick Roadmaster, but not being a car expert myself, I asked Angelo Van Bogart, editor of Old Cars Weekly for some help.
Angelo told me “Open Roads, Open Hearts is definitely inspired by a circa-1947 Buick, but it’s not exactly a 1947 Buick.” An estimation of classic era GM design, the coin reaches its goal of providing a sense of power and movement. The grillwork is instantly recognizable and evokes that Route 66 feeling that we can go anywhere.
CIT expressed it in this way, “This era marked the beginning of modern individual tourism. Escaping from one’s daily life for a little while replaced organized group travel and became the favorite leisure activity of an aspiring middle class. The USA was the leader of this development, the road movie became an artistic landmark and to this day, every car enthusiast wants to make the Route 66 road trip at least once in their life.”
CIT deliberately chose not to depict one particular car brand, which is why we see the CIT logo in microminting in the middle of the hood of the car. I find that to be a very nice touch from the CIT design staff.
Open Roads – Open Hearts should make a wonderful gift for all those whose veins run with motor oil. Coin collectors can appreciate this technical masterpiece that combines state-of-the-art smartminting® technology with microminting. Note the elaborate finishes: Black Proof featuring details in Silk Finish and Proof. Additionally the relief is quite high and the coin offers all the little touches to make it just right, like the speedometer over the car roof.
Those who do not manage to get their hands on one of the 999 pieces will be glad to know that there is also a splendid Special Shape gold coin available depicting another classic road cruiser not from the front but from the side. This one had me guessing, so again I consulted noted Old Car expert Angelo Van Bogart who explained that, “The gold piece has the front fenders and hash marks of a 1958 Chevrolet and the rear fender of a 1958 Pontiac. The A pillar area (windshield, windshield frame, vent windows) is also inspired by these 1958 GM products, which share A pillar designs. However, the rest of the roof is out of proportion and not an accurate depiction of the 1958 Chevrolet/Pontiac two-door hardtop or convertible roof.”
Perhaps this can be forgiven, as the $1 gold car coin issued for Palau is very small at 13.92 millimeters long and 0.5 grams in weight. It is not dated, but is a 2021 issue and offers a .9999 fineness, about as close to pure as is possible. Mintage limit for this coin is set at 15,000 pieces, making availability a non-issue.
The $10 black silver proof struck for Cook Islands has a much tighter mintage limit of 999 pieces, so don’t wait too long to find one. It is a thick coin holding 2 ounces of silver in a 38.61 millimeter diameter and quite dazzling with that combination of silk and proof finish.
Further information about the coin you can check out these locations on the CIT Coin Invest website:
To get a better view and fuller understanding of the three-dimensionality of this coin, I suggest you take a moment to watch CIT’s YouTube film clip at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD5wDVshS-c
