2017 $20 Fine Silver Dragonfly Coin with Niobium Embellishment

This 2017 $20 proof fine silver dragonfly design coin is brought to life with a burst of colour created by a unique niobium embellishment. The natural world boasts an unparalleled beauty that seemingly stuns and dazzles at every turn. Human ingenuity strives to recreate this sparkle of life in art. In a celebration of nature's spectrum of colours, this handcrafted, uniquely shaped niobium embellishment artfully represents a Canadian darner dragonfly basking in the sunlight.

Dragonfly-Shaped Niobium Embellishment
The blue-and-violet dragonfly is not painted or coloured in a conventional way. Instead, niobium has been oxidized to refract light and create rich blue and violet hues which artfully mimic the dragonfly's iridescent appearance in the sunlight. 

Niobium is naturally a dull grey metal which is primarily used to create niobium-titanium superconductor magnets for high-tech applications such as MRI machines. It is also used in very small amounts as an alloy to increase the strength of steel. In recent years, jewellers have used an anodization process to create a wide array of beautiful vibrant colours to enhance custom jewellery. This process has been further developed by the Royal Canadian Mint to now add spectacular niobium colouring to the 2017 silver dragonfly coin.

Design
The reverse design by Canadian artist Emily Damstra captures the beauty of a tranquil aquatic setting on a bright summer day. The dragonfly's graceful landing has set off gentle ripples in the mirror-like surface of the water, which provides a beautiful contrasting backdrop for the frosted lily pad. This floating leaf is dotted with droplets of water that seem to glisten in the light, further adding to the life-like look and feel of the dragonfly's serene natural environment. 

• Mintage: 6,000
• Diameter: 38 mm
• Weight: 1 oz fine silver
• GST/HST exempt

Includes:
• 2017 Half-Dollar Gold Coin - Silver Maple Leaf