Canada 2008 $5 Pure Silver Maple Leaf - Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Special Edition SML Specimen Brilliant Uncirculated

Get this sold out, special Olympic edition pure silver maple leaf while you can!

The 2010 Winter Olympic (officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games) will be held from February 12 to February 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with some events held in Whistler, British Columbia. The 2010 Winter Olympics will be the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada was host to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. These will also be the first winter games to be held in a National Hockey League (NHL) market since the league started allowing its professional hockey players to participate in 1998.

To commemorate this spectacular event, the Royal Canadian Mint has struck this special Silver Maple Leaf coin, the 1st in the the first series of one ounce, pure silver bullion Olympic commemorative coins ever! The 2nd in this series is the 2009 Thunderbird Olympic SML and the 3rd is the 2010 Hockey Olympic SML!

The traditional maple leaf designed is intriguingly rotated about 40 degrees clockwise, and an inset exergue to the left side contains the official logo of the 2010 Winter Olympics, including the Olympic rings. The smiling figure of a man, in the shape of an Inuit inukshuk, is named "Ilanaaq the Inunnguaq". Ilanaaq is the Inuktitut (Inuit language) word for "friend", and an inunnguaq is a specific type of inukshuk in the form of a person. For more information on the inukshuk, the official symbol of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics (and symbol of the Territory of Nunavut), please see the article lower on this page.

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For type collectors, please note that the following portraits of Queen Elizabeth II have appeared on Silver Maple Leaf coins:

  1988-1989  2nd effigy by Arnold Machin
  1990-2003  3rd effigy by Dora de Pédery-Hunt
  2004-pres.  4th effigy by Susanna Blunt

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Technology Note
The Royal Canadian Mint refines the purest silver in the world. This one ounce silver coin is 99.99% pure!

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The Specimen Finish
This coin features the uniquely-Canadian "specimen" finish, a three-fold combination of different finishes. The design (raised area or relief) includes both brilliant and mirrored surfaces, while the fields (background) are subtly striated, resulting in a contrasting, matte appearance. No other mint in the world employs the specimen finish.

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Obverse
A highly-detailed depiction of a single maple leaf. To the left is the official logo of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, with the Olympic rings and the legend VANCOUVER 2010. The legends FINE SILVER 1 OZ and 9999 guarantee the weight and purity.

Reverse
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of England, 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 date, denomination and the legend ELIZABETH II also appear.

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Landmark in a Barren Land
An inukshuk (plural form: inuksuit; singular form often pronounced inutsuk in certain Inuit dialects) is a stone landmark used as a milestone or directional marker by the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic. Inuksuit have become the de facto symbol of the Territory of Nunavut since its establishment on April 1, 1999. An inukshuk can even be found on the official flag of the territory.

Inuksuit differ from some cairns in significance. The Arctic Circle, dominated by permafrost, has few natural landmarks and thus the inukshuk was central to navigation across the barren tundra. They vary in shape and size, and perform a diverse array of tasks. It is a symbol with deep roots in the Inuit culture, a directional marker that signifies safety, hope and friendship. As time goes by more and more Canadians of non-Inuit origin are adopting this uniquely Canadian symbol as one of their own.