The Royal Canadian Mint has experimented with, and produced some super coins in the past, using a type of art composed of crystal-like facets. These employed the mint’s ridiculously-named ‘Extraordinarily High-Relief’, and did so excellently, offering animal portraits on clean backgrounds, composed entirely of those facets. The RCM’s latest isn’t as ambitious, ring-fencing the faceted sections to the birds, even though they’re part of a wider scene. The scene, by artist Steve Hepburn, certainly draws comparisons to the one on the legendary American Gold Eagle, but only superficially so.

This is a two-ounce 0.9999 silver coin of 50 mm diameter, and struck to a proof finish. The mintage is capped at 4,500 pieces, and it comes boxed with a Certificate of Authenticity, as you would expect with a $189.95 CAD price-tag. It’s an unusual-looking coin, with a strong contrast between the faceted, and the realistic elements of the design, helped by the differing finishes. Like all good art, its success will be a matter of taste. We like the potential shown here, although there is perhaps a little too much crammed in, but would be happy to see the concept explored further. Available now.