Art Meets Science

To create this unique take on the classic Silver Maple Leaf design, the Royal Canadian Mint Research and Development Team collaborated with the University of Ottawa?s Centre for Research in Photonics. Together, these innovators created a new technology that generates dynamic optical effects on coins.

The technology works by creating sub-millimeter-scale mirrors on the coins. These mirrors are engineered to exact dimensions and orientations, then engraved on the coining dies used to strike the mirror array into the pure silver blanks.

The result: the Silver Maple Leaf on the coin?s reverse appears to expand and contract when you tilt the coin, giving the impression that the maple leaf is pulsating.

Brand new technology and a classic design?all in one beautiful coin.

?KEY SPECIAL FEATURES

• A Royal Canadian Mint first: dynamic optical effects on a coin, first-of-its kind minting technology.
• The latest coin in our popular series of 2-ounce fine silver collector coins based on the iconic Silver Maple Leaf design found on our sought-after bullion coins, re-created using engineered surface mirror technology.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• The latest coin in our popular series of 2-ounce fine silver collector coins based on the iconic Silver Maple Leaf design found on our sought-after bullion coins, re-created using engineered surface mirror technology.
• Limited mintage of only 3,000 coins.
• An exclusive addition to any collection featuring Canadian coins, nature-themed coins, or coins featuring unique technology.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The maple leaf design on this coin was first introduced on Royal Canadian Mint silver and platinum bullion coins in 1988.
• Although this is a collector (numismatic) coin and not a bullion coin, the bullion coins from which the design is taken represent some of the world?s most sought-after gold, silver, and platinum bullion. The Mint?s refinery is one of the most technically advanced for gold and silver in particular. This refinery has produced a number of world firsts, including being the first to introduce a 99.99% pure gold bullion coin
  (in 1982) and the first to unveil a 100-kilogram 99999 pure gold bullion coin with a $1 million face value (in 2007).
• This coin design was created using a sub-millimeter-scale modified corner cube array. The shape, size, edge angles, and orientation of each individual mirror facet were carefully engineered to create the visual perception of a dramatically pulsating shape. This is an application of photonics, which is the science of generating, detecting, and manipulating photons (light particles). This far-ranging physical science has numerous impacts across fields ranging from better understanding the universe to improving our knowledge of diseases. It affects the daily life of people around the globe in the form of electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, and more.

DESIGN

The reverse image features the Silver Maple Leaf design from the Royal Canadian Mint?s bullion coinage, rendered using newly developed technology developed in collaboration with the Centre for Research in Photonics at the University of Ottawa. The reverse and obverse field pattern reproduces an expanded, non-pulsating version of the pulsating pattern on the maple leaf. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.