The Witcher 4's coin reference explained

During The Game Awards, the highly anticipated The Witcher 4s trailer hit big screens and revealed Ciri as the new protagonist. It seems that this is just the first step in driving the next phase of the series, as there are rumors of the developer's plans to create a trilogy around Ciri's lore.

Among the teasers CD Projekt Red has been feeding its fan base, a series of images of coins have been making the rounds and fueling intense speculation. Sebastian Kalemba, game manager for The Witcher 4 project, released the first image of the coin after announcing that the game has now entered full-scale production. Since then, more developers in the project have teased the community with these coin images. It is still unclear what this coin means, as well as its implications for the upcoming game, as most of the related posts have been out of context.

The coins are likely a nod to elements synonymous with The Witcher Franchise

Most of the discourse surrounding the shared images of the coin stemmed from the detailed runes engraved on it. There is a crescent shape running along the borders of the coin, and its center is adorned by what appears to be a mountain with an entrance just below it. Just above it sits the sun, partially eclipsed by the moon, releasing dying rays of light across the sky.

While these elements are intriguing, this is not the first time they have appeared in The Witcher franchise. When the official Gwent artwork came out for the standalone game in 2020, it featured many similar elements (the mountains, the moon, and the cave entrance), with the eclipse being the only exception.

It's also worth noting that Sebastian Kalemba is the head of the art department for the Gwent game, which might explain some of the similarities. On his X account (formerly known as Twitter), Sebastian revealed the other side of the coin, which reads “Days and nights pass and the blood remains the same” in Tolkien's runes.

While it's up for debate what that line refers to, the monster shown in the trailer confirms to Ciri that fate cannot be changed no matter how hard one tries.

The coins can represent key stories in The Witcher Lore

Of all the speculations, the most widespread connects the solar eclipse on the coin to the Curse of the Black Sun, also called the Black Sun. The magician Eltibald's prophecy describes an eclipse that signals the beginning of the end for humanity. According to him, sixty girls would be born under this black sun, and the curse would turn them into treacherous monsters that would facilitate the return of Lilit, the goddess of the night, and end the world.

Doubt surrounded the authenticity of the prophecy, with many suggesting that the words were the idle ramblings of a madman. Thus, the prophecy eventually came to be known as Mad Eltibald's Mania. But the writings of the Dauk menhir, the Wozgor necropolis tombstones and the weretots legends gave credence to Eltibald's prophecy.

Each of these parts of the lore spoke of Lilith and the end of the world orchestrated by sixty women wearing golden crowns born under the black sun. Since the words of the prophecy and the depictions of the coin share a significant overlap, it stands to reason that The Witcher 4s coin reference may suggest the apocalypse.

Another piece of speculation gaining traction among fans is that the coins are a reference to an upcoming Conjunction of the Spheres. The coin, which has celestial bodies and stones, can be interpreted as an arrangement of the monoliths stacked closely together, in contrast to the mountain depiction of the earlier theory. This cataclysmic event occurred 1,500 years before the events of the story when the realms of the multiverse collided. It will be interesting to see what direction CDPR ultimately takes, as they are several narrative units upon which a potential Ciri trilogy could be built.