2022 5 oz Welcome to Wall Street High Relief Silver - The Awakening Series

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! You are about to witness the most entertaining circus of all time: Welcome to Wall Street!

First introduced in 2021, "The Awakening" series took the market by storm with two releases ("Infinity" and "Ama-Gi Liberty") featuring cutting-edge, controversial designs that sold out within hours of launch. After a brief hiatus, collectors clamored for more information on future additions to the Series. The much anticipated design: "Welcome To Wall Street" launched with an encore release, setting the stage for a banner year of Awakening.

This fascinating High Relief 5 oz Silver Round succeeds the incredibly popular inaugural pieces called "Infinity" and "Ama-Gi Liberty" that collectors instantly connected with. "Welcome To Wall Street" offers similar themes of corruption and deception that create a captivating silver round.

Like others in the series, this product launched with a very limited mintage run of only 2,000 high-relief silver rounds. Each coin individually numbered, guaranteeing the round to be one of the 2,000 total minted from this design. 

Obverse Design

The obverse of this piece depicts the chaotic scene inside the circus tent. At the center stage, we see a banker juggling hand grenades, his pockets overflowing with dollar bills, and at his feet sits a suitcase overflowing with cash. On either side of him are the iconic stock market symbols, the Bull and Bear, both engaged in a signature circus act. The Bull balances a beach ball on its head while the Bear parades across the stage on an undersized bicycle. The banker audaciously mocks the two by dressing them in ruffle skirts. Signage hangs on the curtain, indicating where you can find your financial thrill ride of choice. These conveniently assist the audience as we continue our stroll down the street, enjoying the whole Wall Street experience.

Upon further inspection, you notice references to legendary participants of the charade on the grenades. A few examples include

Bear Stearns

Lehman Brothers

Enron

Bernie Madoff

All of these symbolize a culture of limitless greed, dishonesty, and pervasive bad behavior that fit the scene we find ourselves immersed in. The Clown Banker is the master of the circus, juggling the grenades ominously and hoarding at his feet the financial reward of his acts.

The circus curtain frames this timeless design, with the title of the piece along the bottom reading "Welcome to Wall Street." In the background, we see a faint outline of the Manhattan skyline. 

Financial markets were designed to be a vehicle for people, institutions, and nations to buy, sell, and trade ownership of companies and financial products efficiently, driving the flow of money to those who need it most. Unfortunately, however, what it too often resembles in the modern era is what we find depicted in this design: a rotten, overly leveraged dog and pony show where the game is rigged for the house to win. So have a seat, enjoy the show, and be sure to continue one of the many games prepared for you!

Reverse Design

On the reverse is a striking design that depicts an eye-opening, representing the collective public awakening to evil and corruption. This is widely recognized as the eye of the Pyramid found on the fiat US Dollar. The text "MDCCLXXVI" is beneath the eye and is the Latin date of 1776, the year the Second Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britain. In front of the stones of the pyramid reads "ANNUIT COEPTIS,"; translating to "He (God) has favored our undertakings". These elements are all inspired by the original US Seal in 1776. Seen in the stones of the Pyramid are the date "2022" and the weight and purity of the silver round. The reverse is capped off with the enlightening quote of "YOU CAN'T WAKE A PERSON WHO IS PRETENDING TO BE ASLEEP", which ties in the overall concept of the series.

The reverse design will be used throughout the series as it encompasses the mantra of the rounds that will follow.