Impractical but legal tender just the same, the Royal Canadian Mint’s latest batch of coins features, not for the first time, a world first. This one’s an oval- and concave-shaped one-kilo 99.99% silver coin. Using innovative techniques to portray a traditional theme, it shows a boatload of voyageurs having “just cleared a treacherous cascade, their canoe almost launching itself from this incredibly sculpted and immersive design.”
The oval shape “beautifully frames the design while its concave shape heightens the sense of perspective,” the Mint enthused. “The ultra-high relief delivers incredible depth and dimension which are further enhanced by the coin’s antique finish.” The result “showcases incredible artistry and the Mint’s technical prowess that has made it a global leader for over a century.”
Although hardly the Mint’s largest coin, this one sells for 10 times its face value of $250. Just 400 copies have been struck.
This certainly isn’t the first time voyageurs have canoed a course across Canadian coins. A pair of paddlers predominated on silver dollars in circulation between 1935 and 1986. The same duo would have reappeared in 1987, when Canada struck a new coin to replace $1 notes, had the dies not gone missing on their way to the Mint’s coin-casting facility. As a result, Canada got stuck with the loonie, a less inspiring but arguably more representative image of our contemporary society.
Something of an anomaly among the Canadian-themed releases announced September 4 was Superman: The Last Son of Krypton.
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