The rise of the domed coin continues with the second big release in little over a week. After the new Northern Sky coin from the Royal Australian Mint (RAM) launched last week, it’s the turn of fellow Commonwealth country Canada to join in with the Royal Canadian Mints(RCM) first coloured domed coin. This one goes back to the world of sport, previously dipped into with cricket, baseball, rugby, netball, and football coins.

This new coin celebrates 125 years since the invention of basketball by Canadian, James Naismith. Struck in the usual one troy ounce of fine silver wiith an obverse depicting Queen Elizabeth II, it’s the reverse that is the highlight here. Taking the obvious step of depicting a basketball, coloured in this case, the artist Glen Green hasn’t stopped there. Covering much of the coins reverse face is an uncoloured depiction of two players in full flight, one trying to score and one trying to block. We think it’s a superb piece of design, very dynamic looking, and expertly laid out on the coin. The two basketballs to the left and right are minor distractions, but all said, it’s one of the finest sporting coins out there in our view.

Priced at $159.95 CAD, there will only be 8,500 minted, not many considering the sheer popularity of the sport. Packaging is decent, if pretty generic, and there’s a serialised Certificate of Authenticity enclosed. Available to order now, the coin will ship from 05 July.

The rules are simple—the pace, exciting! Whether playing offence or defence, every player has the opportunity to let their skills shine in a game of basketball; but this action-packed sport also relies heavily on teamwork, where smooth passes and soaring rebounds are just as important as the gravity-defying dunks and three-point plays that drive spectators wild. Invented in 1891 by a Canadian, Dr. James Naismith, in 1891, basketball has evolved over time to become one of the most popular sports played around the world. Whether you’re playing indoors or outdoors, it doesn’t take much to play a simple pick-up game—all you need are two players, a ball, and a shared love for the game.

DESIGN: Designed by Canadian artist Glen Green, your coin uses the coin’s deeply convex curvature to recreate the rounded shape of a basketball. In addition to the engineering complexity of the coin’s unusual shape, precision engraving replicates the tactile elements that are famously associated with the basketball—specifically the recessed lines and dimpled surface—while the application of colour captures its iconic orange appearance.

In the foreground, an engraved action shot captures the classic, fast-paced intensity of the game: the player on the left leaps towards the net as he goes for a dunk shot, while the player on the right moves quickly to defend the shot with his outstretched arm. On both sides, two engraved basketballs overlap the wide band that frames the reverse image, where the word “CANADA” is engraved above the commemorative dates “1891-2016” that mark basketball’s 125th anniversary. As the one side of your coin is convex, the other side is concave.

To keep athletes moving indoors during the cold winter months, James Naismith of Almonte, Ontario, invented basketball as a team-based game of skillful passing while teaching Physical Education at the International Young Men’s Christian Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Points would be scored by throwing a soccer ball into the peach baskets mounted to the balconies on either end of the gym—although someone would need to climb up a ladder to retrieve the ball since open-ended nets were only introduced in 1913.

After its debut on December 21, 1891, the game was a hit and the first players who participated in those early games—including ten students from Quebec—introduced basketball to athletes and students elsewhere. In Canada, the sport’s popularity is evidenced by the early success of a women’s team known as the Edmonton Commercial Graduates (Grads), who reigned supreme between 1915 and 1940 as four-time world champions. By the 1930s, the sport had already spread to over 50 countries. Basketball’s status as a sport was cemented when it became an official Olympic event during the 1936 Games in Berlin, where its inventor was on-hand to present the silver medal to the Windsor Ford V8s of Windsor, Ontario.

DID YOU KNOW:

• Over 450 million people of all ages and skill level play basketball, which has become one of the world’s fastest-growing sports.
• Far from the high scores of today’s matches, the first ever basketball game ended in a 1-0 score.
• The first women’s game was played in 1893.
• The dimples on a basketball were introduced to provide players with a better grip on the ball.
• The backboard was a necessary addition during the sport’s early days—it prevented spectators from interfering in the game by reaching over to handle the ball!
• Dribbling was only permitted after a 1901 rule change, which allowed a single bounce but prohibited a player from shooting the ball afterwards. Continuous dribbling came in 1909 but another rule change in 1927 outlawed dribbling once again—the rule was abolished two weeks later.
• The ball itself has a fascinating history: while basketball was initially played with a soccer ball, the first original ball design was introduced in 1894 and was made from brown leather strips laced together—a far cry from the bouncing manufactured basketballs of today! Over time, ball designs evolved with the game as the focus moved from passing to dribbling; eventually, the basketball acquired its iconic bright orange appearance that fills the colourful background on your coin’s reverse, where the eye-catching curvature is itself an innovative feat of engineering.

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