Hello Based on the inspiration of this thread I have dived into this area of coinage with this coin: http://www.cointalk.com/t206193/ Amanda
Don't know how I missed this thread the first time around. I think I like the blue-ringed octopus design -- but it really, really ought to have been done in a hologram or dichroic finish, so that the colors shift as you change the angle. After all, it is an octopus, famous for changing colors...
They don't consult with me, but actually i would not have brought that coin if it was a holograph. I have real holographs from the late 1970s and they are great. Those little things they put on coins, IMO, suck among other things. The puprose of a holograph is to create a 3d image, not change color.
This coin seems to escape me. From what I understand it is limited outside of Japan and in hot demand.