The Royal Canadian Mint has launched a new five-coin subscription series that employs technological and production techniques to create optical illusions featuring Canada’s indigenous animals. Each coin features an image of the Canadian landscape and combines natural elements with shadows, lines, shapes, and highlights to create an illusion of wildlife—a first for the Royal Canadian Mint.
Designed by veteran RCM Canadian artist Julius Csotonyi, the first coin in this subscription is titled “Mountain Goat” and features an alpine scene in late spring. Mountains rise to the left and right while a ridge of moraine from retreating glaciers occupies the center of the image. The ancient mound is covered with grass and spruce trees, but on closer examination, a mountain goat can be seen emerging from its side. The goat’s body is shaped by melting snow and exposed stone, while the trunks of spruce trees stand as its legs and horns.
The obverse features the present effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt, which has been in use on most Canadian coinage since 2002.
| Denomination | Metal | Weight | Diameter | Quality | Mintage |
| 20 Dollars | .999 silver | 31.39 grams | 38 mm. | Proof & colour | 5500 pieces |
The coins are only available by subscription for Canadian and USA residents who will automatically receive all five coins in 2016. The Mountain Goat launches the series, followed by coin two in May (Monarch Butterfly), coin three in July (Salmon), coin four in September (Pronghorn Antelope), and coin five in November (Snowy Owl).
A complementary custom acrylic presentation case is dispatched with the first coin in the landscape illusions collection. For more information on this and other issues offered by the Royal Canadian Mint, please visit their Web site. Shipment for this series is only available in Canada and the USA.
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