by Greg Klein | June 26, 2018
From the end of the Earth and beyond, the ever-innovative Royal Canadian Mint has sourced distinctive materials to distinguish two new collectibles. Each commemorating a special date, one coin contains purely Nunavut-mined gold, the other a little chunk of meteorite.
(All photos: Royal Canadian Mint)
The gold coin gets its yellow metal from TMAC Resources’ (TSX:TMR) Hope Bay and Agnico Eagle Mines’ (TSX:AEM) Meadowbank to present Andrew Qappik’s images of a walrus, ptarmigan, polar bear, bowhead whale and narwhal. In another innovation, the coin was struck on newly developed blanks that are thinner and wider than usual. The result gives the one-tenth-ounce piece the same diameter as a quarter-ounce coin, providing a larger canvas for the Inuk artist’s work. Part of the Symbols of the North series, the coin anticipates Nunavut’s 20th anniversary next April.
“Our Inuit employees, suppliers and partners can all take great pride in knowing that they have participated in making this unique coin that celebrates their heritage and culture,” commented Agnico Eagle CEO Sean Boyd. With a face value of $20, the coin sells for $359 in a limited mintage of 1,500.
At a ceremony attended by former Canadian astronaut Dave Williams, the Mint used the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s 150th anniversary to unveil “a truly out-of-this-world collectible.” As if to make the one-ounce silver coin impractical for vending machines, a fragment from Argentina’s Campo del Cielo meteorite field sticks out of the surface.
Using designs from Canadian artist Alexandra Lefort, the coin depicts the Eagle Nebula and its pillars of interstellar gas and dust, known as the Pillars of Creation, along with the Moon, the Andromeda Galaxy and a blazing meteorite in addition to the genuine iron-enriched fragment.
Also with a $20 face value, 5,500 versions—each one unique for the shape of its other-worldly content—went on the market for $149.95 each.
In April the Mint marked another extra-terrestrial event with an elliptical black-light-glowing piece portraying Manitoba’s 1967 Falcon Lake UFO sighting.
Some other unusual creations this month included a six-ounce silver coin with a gold-plated miniature carousel that rotates with the help of a magnet. “Even the horses move up and down on this dazzling creation which is limited to a worldwide mintage of only 1,000.”
But musical accompaniment, apparently, has thus far escaped the expertise of the Mint’s R&D boffins.
Still, last May they announced one of their most complicated technical projects ever with a “coin” that’s half of a miniature Stanley Cup. “If you put two of them together, you would have an entire Stanley Cup replica, albeit a fraction of the size of the actual trophy,” said techie Michael Groves. He compared the project’s complexity to that of the Mint’s 100-kilo, million-dollar gold coin and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics medals.
One aspect of the Mint’s innovation will come under scrutiny in an Australian court, where Canada’s coin creator has demanded its Down Under counterpart turn over or destroy some $2 million worth of collectibles that allegedly appropriated a patented method of applying colour to metal. The Australian government responded with a counter-claim asking that Canada’s patent be declared invalid.
Although often extending the traditional bounds of coinage, the Mint acknowledged its heritage with a
Colonial Currency of the Atlantic Provinces set. The four silver coins mimic the condition of used currency,
but come in pieces larger than the originals.
