Description
This 2016 $20 pure silver coin features an immense polar bear and her endearing little cub floating across iceberg-filled Arctic waters under a sky lit by the aurora borealis: icons within icons, each elemental to the Canadian identity. Striking blue enamel stratum overlays selective portions of the image. This visually striking coin weighs one ounce of pure silver with a 38 mm diameter, and has a limited mintage of just 4,000 pieces. This very low mintage coin was not made available to the general public, and remains as one of the most sought after coins of 2016. As a pure silver coin struck by the Royal Canadian Mint, this item is HST/GST exempt.
The Design:
The reverse design by Canadian artist Julius Csotonyi centers on a portrait of a mother polar bear and her tiny cub. The cub leans in against the mother’s right front leg, looking directly at the viewer as the mother gazes toward the right side of the image. The two bears stand on a small iceberg, floating amid other larger bergs in open water. Above them, the aurora borealis illuminates a starlit sky. The bottom half of the image presents the underwater view of this scene, with a school of Arctic cod swimming near the submerged section of the polar bears’ iceberg. The underwater portion of the image is overlaid with translucent blue enamel, lending depth and colour to the coin’s highly detailed engraving and shading. A polished outer band bears the word “CANADA”, the date “2016”, and the face value of “20 DOLLARS”. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.
