Royal Canadian Mint releases a fine collection of silver coins

OTTAWA, Nov. 5, 2013 /CNW/ - The Royal Canadian Mint has launched an impressive variety of new 99.99% pure silver collector coins with themes and designs that are sure to appeal to a variety of ages and interests, just in time for the holiday season. These include celebrating Canada's growing passion for soccer with a coin honouring the 2014 FIFA World Cup^TM, bringing our natural heritage to life with vivid colour, and treasuring traditions from our First Nations and modern-day Canada. These new products are now available from the Mint and its network of official distributors.

"Celebrating the history, traditions and symbols that highlight the story of Canada has given the Mint endless ways to demonstrate its craftsmanship and innovation on collector coins which delight and inspire customers at home and abroad," said Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "We are proud to open new windows on the Canadian experience by issuing coins whose quality, originality and meaning make them favourites of coin collectors and gift-givers everywhere."

Every four years, millions of soccer fans around the world are swept up in the excitement of the most popular and prestigious football tournament on earth and increasing numbers of Canadians are among those captivated by the FIFA World Cup^TM. To commemorate this premier celebration of "the beautiful game" and to highlight soccer's rapid growth as an amateur sport in Canada, the Mint has crafted a $10 face value fine silver coin which captures the spirit of a game which unites so many people around the world. It seems no celebration of Canadian sport can ever be complete without a tribute to hockey, which is richly illustrated on a coloured pond hockey scene on a $20 fine silver coin. Evoking youthful moments of our past and of the future, both these coins are ideal keepsakes for sports fans of all ages.

With so much of Canada defined by its natural landscape and wildlife, the Mint is offering several new perspectives on our proud natural heritage. It has combined artistry and innovation to create a new series of $20 fine silver enameled coins featuring the Great Lakes; starting with a tribute to the vast and magnificent Lake Superior. These coins celebrate famous giants of our geography by showing the underwater structure of each lake. This unique look at Superior and its fellow Great Lakes is achieved by the inward (incuse) engraving of multiple outlines the varying depths of the lake, from its shoreline to its very bottom. The layering of translucent blue enamel, for the bottom to the top of the incuse portion of the coin, completes the dazzling 3D effect of looking inside the lake. Available as single coins or by subscription to a five-coin set, these striking coins are limited to a mintage of only 10,000 per issue.

The Mint has also dug deep into the past to recognize Canada as one of the world's most important sources of prehistoric fossils. Working with Alberta's Royal Tyrrell Museum and Canadian paleoartist Julius Csotonyi, the Mint has created a finely engraved living representation of Scutellosaurus, a small bird-hipped dinosaur discovered in Nova Scotia.

The recent introduction of colour over engraved relief has allowed the Mint to add unprecedented dimension to its coloured silver coins and it has used this innovative effect to celebrate two icons of our northern wildlife with stunning $20 fine silver coins honouring the caribou designed by Trevor Tennant and the polar bear, from a Glen Loates artwork.

Another creature synonymous with Canada finds a home on the Mint's newest 5 oz. fine silver coin with a beaver swimming to its den in a spectacularly engraved underwater scene illustrated by artist Emily Damstra. The majestic bison, which is so symbolic of the Canadian prairies, appears on the latest edition of the Mint's highly exclusive $300 platinum coin. This Claudio D'Angelo design of two bisons locked in a "Challenge for Power" is beautifully engraved in 99.95% pure platinum coin limited to only 200 coins world-wide.

Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut artist Tim Pitsiuliak has expressed his vision of "Life in the North" by merging the illustration of beluga and bowhead whales with timeless symbols of Inuit culture on a $3 fine silver coin.  In a continuing celebration of aboriginal tradition, Coast Salish artist Darlene Gait has illustrated the newest coin in the $5 fine silver "Tradition of Hunting" series with a scene of two boys surveying a bison as their father points to the miraculous White Buffalo.

Another traditional scene plays out on a $5 fine silver coin celebrating Benedetto Pistrucci's masterpiece of Saint George slaying the dragon; a timeless design which has adorned the British gold sovereign since 1817. This artwork was borrowed for the 1859 Bank of Western Canada's short-lived $5 note and it became a fitting subject for the newest $5 fine silver coin from the Mint's Canadian bank note series.

The 2013 the O Canada series also closes out with two $10 fine silver coins" "Holiday Season" and "Maple Leaf". "Maple Leaf" features brilliant colour and the whole 2013 series of $10 face value coins is offered as a set of selectively gold-plated coins presented in a wooden case and limited to only 1,500 sets world-wide.

Mintages, pricing and full background information on each product can be found on the "Shop" tab of www.mint.ca.

All of these products can be ordered directly from the Mint at 1-800-267-1871 in Canada, 1-800-268-6468 in the US, or online at www.mint.ca. The coins are also available at the Royal Canadian Mint's boutiques in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver, as well as through our global network of dealers and distributors, including participating Canada Post outlets.

About the Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown Corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins. An ISO 9001-2008 certified company, the Mint is recognized as one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca

Images of the Mint's newest collection are available by visiting ftp://communications:[email protected].

SOURCE: Royal Canadian Mint