The Royal Canadian Mint likes to experiment with the application of different colour technologies on some of its coins. From the ‘Sheer effect’ of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet coin, through to the very cool dinosaur skeleton coins, there are numerous examples of the inventive use of these techniques and now the latest iteration has launched.

With the series entitled ‘Weather Phenomenon’, the first in this new four-coin series is called ‘Summer Storm’ and uses the blacklight torch to enhance the effect of lightning stiking the ground. In all other respects the coin has a very standard specification, being struck in 1oz fine silver and with the usual Queen’s mugshot on the obverse.

Available as a single coin or as one of the subscriptions the Royal Canadian Mint regularly offers, each coin sells for $99.95 and is only available to buyers in the US and Canada, although as usual it shouldn’t be too hard to pick them up from one of the many RCM-stocking dealers around the globe. Strangely, the coin lists a shipping date of 07 July, an extremely long lead for this mint, especially for a coin we don’t think they’ll have much trouble selling out of.

Very nice coin in our view, and one we can’t wait to see in the hand.

RCM: DID YOU KNOW?

•   Canada’s “lightning capitals” include both Windsor, Ontario (which holds the record for the most days of lightning in one year: 47 days in 2006) and Estevan, Saskatchewan.
•   In Canada, thunderstorms are most common in the interior provinces and much less frequent in the country’s three coastal regions: Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic. As an example, Toronto, Ontario recorded more than 15,000 lightning flashes between 1999 and 2008, compared to Vancouver, British Columbia, which recorded just over 100 in the same time frame.
•   Canada’s thunderstorm hot zones include the Rocky Mountain foothills of Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, and Ontario.
•   Thunderstorms in Canada occur primarily in June, July, and August. During these summer months, lightning flashes every 3 seconds.
•   On average, Canada experiences more than 2 million lightning flashes annually.

BLACK LIGHT

A black light, also referred to as a UV-A light, Wood’s light, or simply ultraviolet light, is a lamp that emits long wave (UV-A) ultraviolet light and not much visible light. The lamp has a violet filter material, either on the bulb or in a separate glass filter in the lamp housing, which blocks most visible light and allows through UV, so the lamp has a dim violet glow when operating.

A second type of bulb, which is also called a black light, produces ultraviolet but does not have the filter material, so it produces more visible light and has a blue color when operating. It seems from the image of the light on the Royal Canadian Mint website that this is the more likely type being given away with the coin.

What you’re actually seeing under the black light are phosphors. These are substances that emit visible light in response to radiation. They do this by converting the energy in the UV radiation from a black light into visible light that the human eye can see.

MINTS DESCRIPTION

In nature, there are few displays of raw power that are more spectacular and breathtaking than the sudden flash of a lightning bolt against the dark sky. Through the innovative use of technology, all the power and light of a thunderstorm on a hot summer day blows across this coin’s surface, re-creating Mother Nature’s most electrifying light show to stunning effect—all in the palm of your hand.

DESIGN: Designed by two Canadian artists, Tony Bianco and Arnold Nogy, your coin presents a stormy natural landscape. A lone eastern white pine, shaped by steady winds, rises from a small rocky island in Ontario’s Georgian Bay. In the distance, stylized forests cower under a stormy sky that seems to glow with energy as Mother Nature unleashes her power. Viewing the reverse under a black light (included) activates the coin’s specialized technology, allowing the lightning bolts to radiate across the sky with a stunning life-like intensity and exceptional luminosity.

SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION $20 CANADA
COMPOSITION 0.9999 SILVER
WEIGHT 31.39 g
SIZE 38.0 mm
FINISH PROOF
MINTAGE 8,000
ARTIST TONY BIANCO & ARNOLD NOGY
BOX / COA YES / YES (SERIALISED)
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