With its thick, snow-white plumage, the snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a hauntingly beautiful ambassador for our northerly climate. Thisyellow-eyed bird is well adapted to Canadian winters from coast to coast, with an extended summer rangethat may include the extreme landscapes of the Arctic Archipelago. Resilient, enigmatic and ever watchful, the snowy owl delights even the most casual observer as it casually perches on posts, signs or trees—any spot with a good view of its surroundings so that it might easily spy its prey or take flight. Thisis your second coin in your captivating Geometric Fauna series! Like the grey wolf on the first coin, one snowy owl shatters the image’s boundaries and breaks free ofits geometric form, while transitioning to a more life-like appearance.

Continue or start your beautiful geometric fauna collection! Order today!

• SECOND COIN IN NEW SERIES! Your snowy owl coin continues a superb series of wildlife portraits that takes a more contemporaryapproach to design, by merging a realistic depiction with one based on pure geometry! Other coins in the series include:
• Grey Wolves (priced at $104.95, available on mint.ca—while supplieslast!)
• Orcas (priced at $104.95, expected availability date of May 2018)
• ALSO AVAILABLE AS PART OF A 3-COIN SUBSCRIPTION! While supplies last, order the 3-coin subscription to ensure you receive all three coins in the series, one coin per month! Your credit card is charged only when your coin ships!
• CALCULATED CRAFTSMANSHIP! Each of these beloved icons of the Canadian wilderness is comprised of carefully positioned polygon shapes that are characteristic of low poly art, before merging with a more true-to-life depiction.
• A VARIETY OF FINISHES! Precisely engraved to ensure crisp lines, each polygon shape is set apart by different finishing techniques that mimic light and shadows, which adds yet another realistic touch to the stylized image.
• INCLUDES SERIALIZED CERTIFICATE! The Royal Canadian Mint certifies all of its collector coins. Most of these are serialized certifications, meaning that each certificate is given a uniquenumber, starting at 1.
• WORLD-CLASS CRAFTSMANSHIP! Only 6,000 coins will be made available worldwide. Hurry and order yours today before they are all gone!
• 1 OZ. 99.99% PURE SILVER COIN! Your coin has no GST/HST!

Designed by Claude Thivierge, your coin combines two different art styles for a unique take on an enigmatic avian species. A colourful sunset provides the only hint of warmth in this colour-over-engraved winter scene, where the sky is ablaze with orange and yellow hues. The open field conveys a sense of stillness as the landscape slumbers beneath its snow cover, whereengraved relief adds textural details that mimic rolling drifts and mounds. The only sense of movement comes from two enigmatic snowy owls, which are comprised of polygon shapes that define the low poly art style. Suddenly, one of the owls takes flight; flying close to the ground, the owl’s outstretched wings create the illusion of movement as it seemingly “shatters” the boundaries of the image and its geometric form, and smoothly transitions from abstract to realism. The word “CANADA”, the face value “20 DOLLARS” and the year “2018” are engraved along the rim that frames much of the reverse image. The obverse features the effigyof Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.

• Since 1987, the Snowy Owl has enjoyed special status as the provincial bird emblem of Quebec.
• The Snowy Owl has nomadic tendencies: Researchers trackedthe movements of young owls from their nest on Victoria Island; they discovered one had flown to HudsonBay, another to southeastern Ontario, and another had flown west to the Russian coast!
• This large and heavy owl has excellent visionday and night—a necessary adaptation to live and hunt in the land of the midnight sun. Its cat-like eyes are similar in size and weight to our own, but they cannot move freely in their sockets; instead, the owl is able to turn its head 270 degrees in either direction.
• It can sit in the same spot for hours, just waiting for any hint of prey. Its acute vision and extraordinary hearing allows the owl to pick up on thefaintest movements, even if its quarry lies beneaththe snow, before flying or running over to pounce on it.

Your coin is encapsulated and presented in a Royal Canadian Mint-branded maroon clamshell with a graphic beauty box.

Order your coin today!