The Royal Canadian Mint's commemorative coins represent a fabulous way to enjoy numismatics! Every year the RCM continues to delight and amaze us with their marriage of traditional aesthetics, superior artistry and advanced technology! Today they have chosen to dazzle us with a tour-de-force release schedule that covers the bases from base metal to silver to gold to platinum, and spans the range from traditional engraving and piedforts to holograms and crystal gemstones!

There's such a wealth of themes and metals to mine that we hardly know where to start!

Collector Series
    • Dinosaur Lenticular #3 - Sinosauropteryx
    • Wildlife Coin & Stamps Set - Blue Whale $10
    • Roughriders Football Helmet $1 Popup
    • Wildlife Conservation - Polar Bear
    • Enamel Dollar - Silver Poppy Proof $1
    • Piedfort Gold & Silver Maple Leaf Set
        (and Silver Maple Leaf Piedfort)

2011 Year of the Rabbit
    • Silver Lotus
    • Silver Round
    • Gold Round
    • Gold Hologram

2010 Holiday Themed Coins
    • Santa & Reindeer Lenticular (4th in Series)
    • Silver Crystal Pinecones in Moonlight Blue and Ruby Red
    • Silver Crystal Snowflakes in Tanzanite and Blue
    • Gold Crystal Snowflake

For the Discriminating Investor
    • Silver Kilogram - Banff National Park
        - Mintage only 750
     • $300 Gold - New Brunswick Gold Coat Of Arms
        - Mintage only 500
    • $300 Gold Swarovski Crystal Snowflake
        - Mintage only 750
     • $300 Platinum 1 Ounce - Giant Ground Sloth
        - Mintage only 200, already sold out at the Mint!

Per the notes on our web site, most of these beauties won't be released until October or November, but we are taking, guaranteeing and confirming orders now! Thank you in advance for your patience.

Talisman Coins and the Royal Canadian Mint team up with the Canadian Museum of Nature to bring you the third in this new series of must-have dinosaur coins - all to celebrate the Museum’s 100th anniversary and to underscore its status as one of North America's leading natural history and sciences museums.

Sinosauropteryx prima (meaning "First Chinese reptilian wing") is the first species of non-avian dinosaur found with the fossilized impressions of feathers, as well as the first non-avian dinosaur where coloration has been determined! It lived in China during the early Cretaceous period and was a close relative of Compsognathus, which is featured significantly in the films Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III. The remarkably well-preserved fossils show that Sinosauropteryx was covered with a furry down of very simple feathers!

Kids, adults and dinosaur enthusiasts alike will thrill to and appreciate this dynamic, colorful design! This collector coin and trading card set is eminently affordable and makes a great gift! Get this third in a new series of Dinosaur Motion Coins now - at an unbelievably low price!
 

Largest Animal That Ever Lived!
The Blue Whale is the largest creature ever to grace the planet, with some having grown to over 100 feet in length and weighing over 440,000 pounds! This new, jam-packed set offers incredible beauty and value, with a list of features as long as the Blue Whale itself!

• A large, silver, proof-finish coin (available only in this set, and encapsulated for preservation), featuring a beautiful rendition of an adult blue whale!
• Two high-value, full-color stamps, issued on a single block. One has a unique first day of issue cancellation, and naturally both are unused. These blue whale stamps are (appropriately) the largest ever issued by Canada Post!
• A full-color booklet with pictures and stories about the animal as well as additional information.
• An individually-numbered certificate of authenticity with full specifications for the coin and stamps.
• An impressive, solid maple presentation case embossed with the Canadian maple leaf and lined with elegant black velvet.
• A full-color outer sleeve to enhance and protect the set.
• The lowest mintage (only 10,000!) of the entire series!

Because of extreme demand, we reserve the right to limit quantities and amend orders for fairer distribution.

Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Rough Riders with this Popup display!

Here is an unexpected sports-related numismatic collectible - a football team dollar, brilliantly plated in 24-karat gold! The community-owned Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) hit the century mark, so what better way to celebrate this occasion than this unique and dynamic set? No icon better represent Riders’ football than their green and white helmet, which literally springs into three dimensions from this card! Get yours today, to sit proudly on any desk, bookshelf, table or locker shelf!

The set features a gold-plated $1 coin featuring the Saskatchewan Roughriders Canadian Football League team logo. The legend 1910 - 100 - 2010 marks the teams centennial. Then the coin is housed in an unique display card, where the green and white football helmet literally springs into 3D when you open it up to display it!

New Wildlife Conservation Series!
Only Canada's third square coin, and the second in this new series - the Polar Bear is sure to be a hit! This gold-plated silver proof aims to raise the profile of these endangered giants of North America.

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is largely within the Arctic circle. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear (together with the omnivorous Kodiak bear, which is approximately the same size). An adult male weighs between 770 and 1,500 pounds! Although it is closely related to the brown bear, the polar bear has evolved with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice, and open water, and for hunting the seals which make up most of its diet. Although most polar bears are born on land, they spend most of their time at sea (hence their scientific name meaning "maritime bear") and can hunt consistently only from sea ice, so they spend much of the year on the frozen sea.

The Polar Bear $3 Square Silver Specimen is the 2nd in the new Wildlife Conservation Series from the Royal Canadian Mint. Square coins depicting the following endangered animals are planned:

    Barn Owl                                                       (Click here for more great polar bear coins!)
    Polar Bear
    Orca (Killer Whale)
    Black Footed Ferret

Get this second in the new series now at our introductory sale price!

First Enameled Poppy Silver Dollar
The poppy flower, the symbol of remembrance, is used to commemorate the "war to end all wars". World War I officially ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918 with the Armistice signing, and each year we pause to remember the Veterans who served and gave their lives in the cause of freedom.

This Color Enamel Proof Silver Dollar is the first Poppy silver proof featuring enamel color! With a mintage of only 5,000 coins this is sure to be a fast sellout, and a scarce coin in years to come - we love its investment potential. Order yours now!

Because of extreme demand, we reserve the right to limit quantities and amend orders for fairer distribution.

Historic Gold & Silver Piedfort Set
Enjoy the sheer, simple beauty of this set, containing the first and only piedfort Silver Maple Leaf & Gold Maple Leaf coins! The 1 Ounce Silver Maple and 1/5 Ounce Gold Maple Leaf are new, naturalistic designs, executed in an unique, reverse proof finish.

This set has a worldwide mintage of just 3,000! This set is the only way to get the Piedfort Gold Maple Leaf (the first-ever 1/5 Ounce GML), and it contains the lowest-mintage special edition Silver Maple Leaf ever issued! Truly an unprecedented and historic release!

Because of extreme demand, we reserve the right to limit quantities and amend orders for fairer distribution.


Piedfort $5 Silver Maple
Okay, I'll bite - so just what is a Piedfort?
Hard to find and popular with collectors for more than a century, piedforts are highly sought after. We get asked all the time, "What is a piedfort?" There are two different, but related, stories of the origin of the word "piedfort". The first says that it literally means "strong foot" in French (from pied, foot and fort, strong). The second says this word was appropriated by the mint centuries ago to mean "heavy measure" or "heavy weight". In both cases, the sense of serious heft to the coin is obvious.

Often the word "piedfort" is translated as "double-thick", but this is neither a literal translation nor a precisely accurate definition. Numismatically speaking, any coin that is 50% or more thicker than a standard version qualifies as a piedfort, although some piedforts are, indeed, twice as thick as normal.

Finally, the age-old question, "How is the word pronounced?" Coming from French, it is not pronounced as it is spelled; that is, don't say, "pide - fort". Rather, "pee - ay - four" (three syllables) is a good approximation.

Pure Silver Kilogram Proof!
Give in to the call of the great outdoors with this huge (4" diameter) and truly rare (mintage 750) pure silver kilogram proof! We're willing to bet that this is the one of the most unique One Kilogram coins you've ever seen! Minted by the Royal Canadian Mint in pure silver with a face value of 250 dollars, this huge and intricately engraved masterwork commemorates the 125th anniversary of Canada's first (and most-visited) national park, Banff in the Canadian Rockies!

If you're considering this Proof Silver Kilo as an investment, it's kind of hard to go wrong here:
    • Tremendously low mintage - only 750 individuals can ever own this monster!
    • Tremendous size - 1000 grams (1 kilogram)!
    • The meticulous detailing and incredible design one expects from the artistic engravers at the Royal Canadian Mint!

From a numismatic point of view - this ultra-rarity will be the centerpiece of your collection!

Centuries ago, the Chinese invented a calendar based on the lunar (rather than the solar) cycle. There are twelve animals in the Chinese lunar zodiac, each corresponding in sequence to a year rather than a month. The year 2011 is ruled by the sign of the Rabbit.

The Rabbit personality is most likely to find true happiness. The Rabbit loves beautiful things. One can always count on the gracious Rabbit for good manners, kindness and sound counsel. He or she leads a tranquil existence and will do anything to avoid conflict. Don’t be fooled by the Rabbit’s soft and vulnerable exterior, however. This determined creature is actually quite strong and resilient. The Rabbit knows what it wants, and knows how to get it!


New Unusual Shape "Lotus" Series!
This new, dramatically designed and shaped coin is the second of the Royal Canadian Mint's Lunar Zodiac Lotus Proof Series. Featuring a sensational rendering of a long-eared hare, shrewdly observing his surroundings beneath a canopy of low-hanging fruit, set in a beautiful and dramatic Oriental lotus shape. The obverse design is clean and free of legends to create a powerful impression befitting the topic!

Mintage limit for this new Rabbit coin is only 19,999, much lower than the previous silver Chinese Lunar Zodiac series! Don't wait on this one!



New Round Silver Zodiac Series!
This unexpected new series of round Silver Lunar Zodiacs started last year with the Tiger. We believe that this series will prove to be an excellent buy-and-hold, for the following reasons:

1)  The design is stunning - powerful, beautiful and dramatic, by Chinese Canadian artist Aries Cheung.
2)  The coin is struck in one ounce of 99.99% pure silver - the first such Chinese Lunar Zodiac series ever issued by the Mint!
3)  Perhaps most importantly, the mintage limit is dramatically lower - only 9,999! This is far lower than the mintage of any previous silver Lunar Zodiac Animal series that the RCM has ever struck! We believe that this coin will sell out at the Mint!

The Royal Canadian Mint has outdone itself with this year's lineup of Swarovski Crystal Holiday-themed coins! Two new crystal snowflakes, plus two Holiday Pinecones with crystals, and finally a new Gold Crystal Snowflake coin - the first gold snowflake since 2006!


Swarovski Crystal Pine Cone Pure Silver $20 Proof Coins in two colors!
These new, beautiful Holiday Pinecone Silver $20 Proofs with Swarovski Crystals are a great new addition with an extremely low mintage! Available in Moonlight Blue and Ruby Red!

You can't help but desire the Crystal Pinecones Silver Proofs! Stunning in their beauty, color, and low mintage, what's not to like?

    * Each is embedded with three glistening Swarovski crystals!
    * Each is minted in 99.99% pure silver!
    * Each has a high face value of $20!
    * Most importantly, the mintage limit of only 5,000 each is not only very small by silver coin standards, it also means that no more than that number of people in the entire world can ever own it!

Note that previous Canadian silver proofs with a mintage of under 10,000 have sold out at the mint virtually instantly, so we recommend not delaying if you want to make these yours.

Because of extreme demand, we reserve the right to limit quantities and amend orders for fairer distribution.


2010 Swarovski Crystal Snowflake
Pure Silver $20 Proof Coins available in Blue and Tanzanite!
Now a holiday season annual tradition from the Royal Canadian Mint, this year's new crystal snowflake coins are hotter than ever! We expect a fast sellout at the mint as usual, so we highly recommend ordering these quickly!

These beauties feature 6 color crystals, all from Swarovski in Austria. These are set in a $20 face value, 99.99% pure silver proof coin of stunning design.

Each variety, Tanzanite and Blue, has a low mintage of only 7,500 each!

Because of extreme demand, we reserve the right to limit quantities and amend orders for fairer distribution.

Blue Crystal Snowflake, Regular Price $129.95 - SALE Price Only $99.95 Each!

Tanzanite Crystal Snowflake, Regular Price $129.95 - SALE Price Only $99.95 Each!


Gold Crystal Snowflake, Regular $2499.95 - Special SALE Price Only $2199.95 Each!

Santa & Rudolph on One Coin!
On, Donner! On, Blitzen! Santa and Rudolph - a terrific twosome - are together on this magical, copper-plated lenticular coin! You can almost hear the clip-clop of reindeer hooves on the rooftop. This magic sound (that all good little girls and boys long to hear on Christmas Eve) signals the arrival of Santa and his team of flying reindeer, led by Rudolph.

This is the fourth in the series of Lenticular Holiday Coins. New this year, the lenticular half-dollar is copper-plated, for an intriguing and visually arresting patina. The lenticular technology combines color with the illusion of movement - as you tilt the coin back and forth, Santa Claus magically switches places with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!