Description
2013 $5 FINE SILVER COIN -
CONTEMPORARY ABORIGINAL ART:
FATHER ICE FISHING
Theme:
Second coin in a new series featuring contemporary aboriginal art incorporated in a colorful design using niobium technology.
Description:
This coin is certified to be 99.99% fine silver with a diameter of 28 millimetres and a metal weight of 8.5 grams.
It features an innovative minting process that incorporates a niobium insert struck into the coin’s silver core. The niobium is selectively coloured using a unique oxidization process produced naturally by niobium’s distinct properties. The coin’s reverse design is by Inuit artist Ulaayu Pilurtuut. Pilurtuut’s design shows a joyous fisherman celebrating his latest catch. In the background stands the fisherman’s protective igloo. Rendered in a contemporary Inuit style, it captures the lighthearted spirit and humour commonly associated with this ancient practice.
The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.
Special Features:
- This unique fine silver coin features a niobium metal insert with unique coloring that enhances the beauty of this Inuit’s artist design.
- Distinct and innovative minting process: Niobium insert is struck into the core of a fine silver coin and then selectively colored through a unique oxidization process made possible by the special properties of this metal.
- This coin portrays fisherman celebrating his latest catch.
Complete Certificate Text:
Dance of the fisherman
Distance and proportion melt away on the great expanse of Arctic ice—and the Inuit fisherman would disappear into the landscape if it weren’t for the brownish-grey earth tones of his animal hide parka. Even then, it would take a trained eye to spot the dot of contrast against the white that defines the Arctic for most of the year.
The fisherman is carving a large cube of ice. It lifts easily without breaking and fits snugly against other cubes already lined up on the ground. Row upon row quickly follows until the dome-shaped refuge against the wind and the cold is complete. Once inside his igloo, the fisherman pulls out his knife to carve a hole in the floor, and open a cherished gateway to the fish swimming below the ice.
It may take hours, but the patient fisherman is confident. His igloo is in a popular spot where Arctic char, whitefish and trout have been known to swim—and have sustained Inuit for millennia as they moved between land and sea, soil and ice to hunt and fish in harmony nature’s seasons.
Not a movement. Not a sound. Not even a breath, it seems. The fisherman is utterly motionless; frozen solid with the knowledge that fish stay away from noise.
The stick twitches. Stillness shatters as the fisherman snaps his pole up and away from the ice in one jubilant sweep, thankful the sea has offered up yet another gift for life—today, just as it has for thousands of years past, and for generations to follow.
