This 2017 $10 pure silver coin is the fourth coin in the Birds Among Nature’s Colour series, and features the Purple Martin with its smooth gliding and morning song. The black-blue songbird is a delightful sight when it returns again and again to the nesting boxes and birdhouse we put up for them. The front of the coin is engraved with the face value of “10 DOLLARS.” As a pure silver coin struck by the Royal Canadian Mint, this item is HST/GST exempt.

The reverse design by Canadian artist Derek C. Wicks features a richly detailed, engraved portrait of a purple martin. Canada’s largest swallow is viewed from below, its claws firmly gripping a stalk of foxglove. Its forked tail and long, slender profile give the martin an elegant air as it turns its head towards the left side of the coin, as though studying its surroundings for signs of insect prey. Selective colour conveys the soft glow of a warm summer morning, when the sun’s early rays shine down upon the pastel-coloured tubular flowers that cast a gentle shadow behind them.