MARRELLA – ANCIENT CANADA – 2018 $20 1 oz Fine Silver Coin – Royal Canadian Mint
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MARRELLA – ANCIENT CANADA – 2018 $20 1 oz Fine Silver Coin – Royal Canadian Mint
MARRELLA – ANCIENT CANADA – 2018 $20 1 oz Fine Silver Coin – Royal Canadian Mint
Nicknamed the “lace crab,” Marrella splendens and its curving spines have left an unmistakable imprint on our rocks—and on this splash-struck coin! The latest addition to the Ancient Canada series, the Cambrian arthropod is the most abundant species found in Canada’s fossil-rich Burgess Shale, where hundreds of thousands of diverse specimens provide us with a window to ancient life.
SPECIAL FEATURES
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! The second of TWO new coins added to our wildly popular Ancient Canada series, which had collectors clamouring for more!
EACH ONE IS UNIQUE: Struck using an old coin-minting technique, each coin may vary in size: it may be larger or flatter, but it will always have a minimum diameter of 38 mm!
Your coin does NOT have a rim: instead, the 99.99% pure silver was allowed to “spill” out to give this coin a slightly irregular shape—just like an ancient Roman coin!
Verified by the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, the design features precision engraving that realistically mimics the timeworn look and feel of fossils embedded in sandstone.
Adding to the engraved textural details, a beautiful patina finish gives the coin an antiqued appearance that reflects the series’ theme, while the prehistoric-looking font adds to the “lost in time” feel of it all!
The antique finish is sealed in lacquer, which should minimize the appearance of fingerprints if the coin is accidentally removed from its frame.
DESIGN
The reverse design is based on fossils curated at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta, and has been reviewed for scientific accuracy by palaeontologists at the Museum. It features a near life-sized reproduction of Marrella splendens, a marine arthropod from the Middle Cambrian period (505 million years ago), whose curving spines and wedge-shaped head are among its most distinguishing features. A carefully sculpted rock texture fills the field and surrounds the precision-engraved fossils, resulting in a more true-to-life rendering of the Marrella specimen recovered from the Burgess Shale Formation. While the rimless coin’s unique shape is the product of an old coin-making technique, the antiqued look of a patina finish adds to the design’s “ancient” look and feel, which extends to the prehistoric-looking font on the reverse and obverse. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.
SPECIFICATIONS
No: 163392
Mintage: 5,500
Material: 99.99% pure silver
Finish: Antique
Weight: 31.39g
Diameter: Approx. 38 mm
Edge: Plain
Certificate: Serialized