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2024 Canada $20 Pysanka Fine Silver Coin (No Tax)
As in previous years, this 2024 fine silver pysanka coin features intricate folk-art motifs and beautifully bold colours, but its reverse is a more modern cultural expression. Mixing contemporary colours with traditional symbols celebrating the relationship between the earth and sun, this pysanka reflects the evolution of a cherished artform – one that remains rooted in tradition yet offers endless creative possibilities.
While purple signifies fidelity and trust, periwinkle (barvinok) is associated with unity and eternity – its purple flowers are considered a harbinger of spring, and its evergreen leaves make it a year-round symbol of resilience. An important cultural symbol of Ukraine, barvinok traditionally adorns Easter baskets and the wedding bread (korovai), and is woven into wedding wreaths worn by the bride and groom during the ceremony.
This egg-shaped coin’s reverse features an original pysanka design by artist Tanya Mykytiuk, with motifs rooted in tradition and enhanced with contemporary colours. Diamonds represent knowledge and the four corners of the earth, while nets denote the division of good from evil and right from wrong. The eight-pointed star motif – an ancient symbol of the sun and the return of spring – appears alongside stylized flowers, flanked by periwinkle (barvinok) leaves and vines; together, these symbols radiate hope and resilience while celebrating the relationship between the earth and the sun, and the cyclical nature of life. The obverse features the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt. The obverse also bears a special marking that includes four pearls symbolizing the four effigies that have graced Canadian coins and the double date of her reign.
Specifications:
RCM Number: 245571
Mintage: 8,500
Composition: 99.99% pure silver
Weight: 31.82 g
Diameter: 45 mm long x 33 mm wide
Face value: $20
Finish: Proof
Edge: Interrupted Serrations
Artist: Tanya Mykytiuk (reverse), Susannah Blunt (obverse)
Special Features:
- The tradition continues. The Royal Canadian Mint’s annual celebration of a Ukrainian cultural tradition continues to be wildly popular! Each egg-shaped pysanka coin is a precious metal showcase of an artform with layers of meaning.
- A pysanka for modern times. For 2024, this original pysanka design introduces colour combinations that are seldom seen in traditional designs, with green and purple (and fine silver) design elements set against a black background.
- Colour with silver. Crafted in 1 oz. of 99.99% fine silver, your pysanka features a colourful, intricate design that incorporates glimpses of the coin’s naturally luminous silver surface.
- First collaboration. This is the first pysanka coin designed by Tanya Mykytiuk, a second-generation Canadian of Ukrainian descent, who has been writing pysanky (the plural form of “pysanka”) for over 40 years.
- Past coins sold out. The Royal Canadian Mint’s fine silver pysanka coin has been a bestseller every year since 2016, and all previous pysanka coins have sold out quickly.
Packaging:
The coin is encapsulated and presented in a Royal Canadian Mint-branded clamshell with a black beauty box.
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