First Canadian Niobium coin program ever! The second in this new series of Native American bimetallic coins features an Indian brave stalking his prey!

Talisman Coins and the Royal Canadian Mint are proud to offer you this new numismatic experience - the first ever Canadian niobium coins! This bimetallic proof finds pure niobium combined with precious silver to create the effect of a huge, full moon rising over a Indian hunter armed with his spear, on this second in a series of four Native American-themed designs created by noted Canadian artist and illustrator John Mantha. (Please see the article lower in this presentation for more information about this artist.) Let's see - it's the second in a new, Native American series, and first Canadian niobium coin series ever. Did we mention that the mintage limit is only 7,500? Do we even need to suggest that you act quickly?

Calendar in the Sky
We look at cable TV or check the internet to see if it's going to rain, but there was a time when people gleaned far more information merely by gazing upward - particularly at night. Throughout history, cultures around the world have recognized the moon as the guardian of nature’s cycles. Its perpetual waxing and waning, “dying” and reappearing, marked the passage of time - not clock time, but rather the mythic time that governs the rhythms of life: the ebb and flow of the sea, the birth, maturation and migration of animals, and the scattering of seeds the sprouting of new plants.

In North America, the Native American peoples, including the many Algonquin tribes, utilized the lunar cycle as a celestial calendar to track time. They assigned a name to each full moon, to reflect the seasonal activities that accompanied its specific cycle. The Algonquin people lived across a vast territory from the Atlantic in the east to Lake Superior in the west, and the geographical distances between them produced a variety of names for each full moon.

October is a month of falling leaves. Its full moon is known as Travel Moon or Dying Moon, but its most common name is Hunter’s Moon to reflect the fact that the animals have fattened up for winter, so it is time for hunters to build restock their provisions for the cold months ahead - a venture of patience and strength inspired by the ever-changing cycle of life.

Investment Notes
Why do we like this coin so much? Let us count the ways:
    1)  The first-ever Niobium coin program from the Royal Canadian Mint!
    2)  Unusual, non-through-metal style BiMetallic coin!
    3)  Full proof finish with mirrored fields and frosted cameo relief
    4)  Extremely low mintage limit of only 7,500 !
    5)  An original work of art by illustrator John Mantha!
All this, and, oh yes, it combines two hugely popular themes, Native American and animals!

Technology Notes
The Royal Canadian Mint leads the world with its many proprietary technologies. Now it has added another high-tech process to its stable of legal tender enhancements - oxidized niobium metal combined with silver for a dramatic and colorful effect!

Obverse
A Native American brave, armed with spear, creeps stealthily in front of the Full Hunter's Moon of October, which appears huge low on the horizon. The denomination is indicated.

Reverse
A frosted cameo portrait of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, in profile facing right. This portrait, the fourth effigy of the queen to appear on Canadian coinage, was executed by the artist Susanna Blunt. The legend ELIZABETH II D. G. REGINA ("Elizabeth II, Queen by the Grace of God") also appears.

Packaging
Each coin is encapsulated and presented in a wooden presentation case, lined with black velvet and protected by a black outer box. The case doubles as a flip-style display easel. An individually-numbered certificate of authenticity is included.

About the Artist - John Mantha
Canadian artist John Mantha has created countless visual works for advertising agencies, corporations, book publishers, magazines, television and movies, so when he was asked to design coins, he eagerly embraced this challenging new medium.

Mantha is undeterred by the challenge of downsizing his creative thinking from a movie screen or book page to the minute proportions of a coin, "The size of the finished product is really secondary. I see my role as an interpreter. I listen carefully to my client to get a ‘feeling' for what they are trying to say, and then figure out how to express it through my art. Some people speak multiple languages to verbally communicate an idea, but the languages I use are visual; and they include everything from the paint or pencil; the paper or canvas; colors, shapes, style and perspective."

The Native American Full Moon Series of Niobium and Silver Proof Bimetallic Proofs is Mantha's sixth collaboration with the Mint. "I have a great appreciation for the beauty of the full moon," he says. "I grew up in Sault Ste. Marie and would go canoing deep in the bush, where it starts to get dark as soon as the sun disappears behind the trees. But if there's a full moon, it makes all the difference when you have to find your way around the camp site."

While doing background research for the Full Moon Series, Mantha discovered that Canada's First Nations (Indians) people share a deep connection with the moon, "In fact, aboriginal cultures around the world consistently look to the skies for information - when to plant; when to hunt; when animals begin their migration."

"I believe the moon has magical qualities that are undeniable," says Mantha, "Ever notice how people glance up at night, even if for a second? The moon's size and location may change, but its powerful allure remains the same. This is why I kept it silver in all the designs. Regardless of the weather or the season, the moon is constant: a reassuring source of comfort for us here on earth."