2013 Canada 25-cent Magnified Beauty - The Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus

2013 Canada 25-cent Magnified Beauty - The Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus

Canada in bloom

Flowers appeared on Earth about 130 million years ago-and their arrival was dramatic, transforming a monochromatic world of green ferns and cone-bearing trees into a rainbow of colour. Much more than good looks, flowers are critical to life on Earth. They grow on almost 90% of Earth's 260,000 known vascular plant species. In Canada alone, some 4,000 different species of flowers burst into bloom every year from east to west-even on the northernmost tundra during the brief Arctic summer.

By their very nature, flowers are best celebrated with colour, and this coin has been selectively coloured in painstaking detail to showcase the beauty of the yellow and orangey-red flowers that bloom on the eastern prickly pear; a surprising cactus indigenous to Canada that grows on the nation's southernmost point-Point Pelee in Ontario.

Canadian artist Claudio D'Angelo has created a stunning close-up of the eastern prickly pear's summer bloom-with colour expertly added to the design to showcase the beauty of this yellow and orangey-red flower in remarkable detail.

Specifications:
Item Number: 127291
Face Value: 25 cents
Mintage: 17,500
Composition: Cupro-nickel
Diameter (mm): 35
Edge: Plain
Finish: Specimen
Certificate: Serialized

Special Features:
- This coin features a gorgeous close up of a Canadian cactus; the rare and endangered eastern prickly pear-in colour. The reverse image fills the entire face of the coin in full colour.
- The ideal gift for gardeners, botanists as well as nature and flower enthusiasts eager to celebrate Canada's floral treasures.
- This coin comes with a unique beautiful custom box that allows you to view the full coloured image of the flower as nature intended it to be!

Packaging:
Coin is encapsulated and presented in Royal Canadian Mint branded environmentally friendly custom paper box.