Description
This very small 2013 25 cent pure gold coin features a Ruby-throated hummingbird in flight. It is double struck with a frosted cameo proof finish, and engraved with the nominal face value of “25 Cents” at the top of the coin and “Canada 2013” along the bottom rim. This is the first coin in a new series of “small animals” on Royal Canadian Mint’s smallest gold coins. Mintage is limited to just 10,000 pieces. As a pure gold coin, this item is GST / HST exempt.
The Design:
This coin was designed by Canadian artist Claudio D'Angelo, and features a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in full flight: a pose that can only be captured by cutting-edge photographic equipment, given that its wings beat more than 50 times per second. Posed at the centre of this clean-lined, highly polished pure gold coin, the “miniscule marvel” raises its dark long-billed head, its wings—each feather engraved in fine detail—fully extended behind it. From the tiny white spot above the bird's lifelike right eye to the downy feathering of its belly and dark-shaded tips of its back and tail-feathers, each detail of the hummingbird's appearance is apparent despite the tiny size of both the coin and its subject.
The Hummingbird:
In Portuguese, they are known as beija-flores or "flower-kissers." Early Spanish explorers called them joyas voladoras or "flying jewels." Native to North and South America, hummingbirds are the smallest and among the most fascinating birds in the world.
