This striking 2015 $5 fine silver coin is part of a stunning and unique series from the Royal Canadian Mint celebrating beauty of vintage banknote vignettes. Bank notes are designed to facilitate commerce while providing security measures against counterfeiting, but at their core, they are works of art. Take away the denomination and counters, legal inscriptions, ornamentation, borders and bars; what emerges is a stunning visual narrative of a nation’s evolution, its identity and ideals. Painted or drawn by a renowned artist and then adapted for printing by an equally skilled engraver, every bank note vignette is a masterpiece in its own right, backed by an assembly of functional and aesthetic parts that are remarkable in their complexity.

This coin was struck in about three-quarters of an ounce of .9999 fine silver, with a wide diameter of over 36mm. It boasts a proof finish, and a mintage of 8,500 coins within Canada. It is an original keepsake that will delight coin and banknote collectors, history buffs and those with an appreciation for fine art. As a pure silver coin issued by the Royal Canadian Mint, this item is HST / GST exempt.

The Design:

This coin features the vignette that appeared on the $5 note from Barclays Bank (Canada) in 1929, and was utilized on a number of denominations over the years. Originally painted by Alonzo Earl Foringer and engraved for the printing press by Robert Savage, it features a female allegorical figure gazing at a globe with a winged disc in her hand; symbolic of the bank’s expansion into Canada at the time.