The Royal Canadian Mint has surprised the minting world with its latest numismatic series, a fine blend of the country’s most endearing wildlife and innovations in coining technology. 

The family of innovative firsts includes 2019 $25 Fine Silver Coin Multifaceted Animal Head: Wolf. The coin features a front-facing image of the animal’s head minted in three dimensions and makes full use of EHR (Extraordinarily High Relief), which allows the wolf head to be elevated from mere embossing to a sculpture. The EHR rises 6 mm from a 36 mm diameter surface and is composed of 435 individual polygons which shape the wolf’s head. This Claude Thivierge-designed coin, along with other coins experimenting with proprietary technology, is currently available for purchase.

This video shows the coin’s production:

Apart from this revolutionary coin, the Mint plans to launch the 2019 $20 Fine Silver Coin – Lights of Parliament Hill. The coin would use a proprietary “Colour Reveal” technology. A photograph of the Peace Tower in Ottawa would come to life under UV light and reveal an intricate pattern of colours.

The effect resembles a night-time spectacle of the annual “Northern Lights” (Aurora borealis) show, attracting countless visitors to Ottawa’s Parliament building.

When it comes to the UV-generated effect, Tony Bianco designed the 2019 $20 Fine Silver Coin – Sky Wonders: “Steve” will also use the technology. When a black light hits the coin, it reveals an unusual phenomenon observed in Canadian skies in 2016. The phenomenon is a fleeting, thin arc of green and violet light next to an aurora borealis. This is usually produced by a “sub-auroral ion drift” of charged particles flowing in the atmosphere at extreme speeds.

Apart from these coins, some other creations will make their debut in August 2019. The full background information on each product, including mintages and pricing, can be found at www.mint.ca. You can also order the products online from Mint’s website.