2016 $20 Canadian Silver Coin Features Radiant Rainbow

Earlier today, April 5, the Royal Canadian Mint opened sales for a 99.99% pure silver coin that depicts a radiant rainbow using "innovative colour technology and various finishing techniques." Limited to 8,000 coins, the Mint has already sold 87% of them.

Titled the 2016 $20 Fine Silver Coin – Weather Phenomenon: Radiant Rainbow, the collector coin in proof finish is listed for CAD $99.95, or about US $76.50. In describing the original techniques in creating the rainbow, the Mint says:

"The artful combination of diffused technology and vivid paint recreates the bright colours of the rainbow while allowing the engraved background to faintly show through — just as it would appear outdoors before your very eyes."

Beneath the life-like rainbow of a stormy day, a country scene unfolds with a farmhouse and barn sitting atop a gentle slope and an entry road along with two round bales of hay in the foreground. The design, created by Canadian artist Tony Bianco, includes encircling inscriptions of CANADA, 20 DOLLARS, and 2016.

Obverses offer Susanna Blunt’s effigy of Queen Elizabeth II with inscriptions of ELIZABETH II and D G REGINA.

Specifications for the silver coin, as provided by the Royal Canadian Mint, are:

• Mintage: 8,000
• Composition: 99.99% pure silver
• Finish: proof
• Weight (g): 31.39
• Diameter (mm): 38
• Edge: serrated
• Certificate: serialized
• Face value: 20 dollars
• Reverse Artist: Tony Bianco
• Obverse Artist: Susanna Blunt

Order the 2016 $20 Radiant Rainbow Silver Coin directly from the Royal Canadian Mint at www.mint.ca. Here’s an affiliate link to the coin’s product page.