The Royal Canadian Mint’s “The Universe” series continues with a third one-ounce 99.99% silver coin entitled, “The Universe: Glow-in-the-Dark Glass with Silver Fume.” The coin includes a glow-in-the-dark glass and silver fume globule that depicts a radio wave, which relates to the radio telescope installed at the NRC Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) near Penticton, British Columbia, depicted on the coin’s reverse.
The coin measures 38 mm in diameter and costs $149.95 CAD. It has a mintage limited to 8,500 pieces, which is the same number ascribed to previous releases in this series. The first coin in the series is now sold out, but the second release is still available.
The reverse was designed by Ardell Bourgeois and features an image of the DROA observatory with a radio telescope in the foreground; radio telescopes aid scientists in their study of the universe by gathering and transmitting radio waves from space. Above the observatory is a color depiction of a cloudy sky with the glass and silver fume representation of a radio wave situated near the top left. Inscribed along the rim are 20 DOLLARS, CANADA, and 2016.
As noted above, the reverse also glows in the dark: the glass piece, created by Loïc Beaumont-Tremblay, contains “luminescent elements,” while the cloudy background shifts to reveal a glowing night sky.
The obverse design includes Susanna Blunt’s effigy of Queen Elizabeth II with the inscriptions ELIZABETH II and D.G. REGINA.
For more information on the 2016 The Universe Glow-in-the-Dark Glass with Silver Fume Silver Coin, please visit the Web site of the Royal Canadian Mint. A short promotional clip is included below:
Ed mahek says
I wonder if these low minted special gimic world coins will catch on in the US?
Ed mahek says
Anyway…..This may have made a cool curved coin.
earthling says
I can see a day coming when Kelloggs or maybe Post Cereals contracts for a million exclusive plastic Coins from the Canadian Mint . They could put them in Boxes of Cereal and costar in the creation of a new generation of junk collectors.
But then again, as desperate as the US Mint is getting….. maybe THEY will gift a million plastic Coins to a Cereal Company.