The Canadian Mint has produced some great coins these last few years, and I just got two new 2016 pieces (the Cougar and the Superman's S symbol) which I will be featuring, along with a 2015 (owl) and a 2014 (falcon) coin.

When stacking silver I generally like to get more value for money ("junk silver" - some times selling even below melt value) but there are some designs which just scream "buy me, buy me, I'm awesome, you just can't live without me". And if they are really good, I do buy them. I can't resist at these screaming voices for long :P

Such was the case with the 2016 Australian eagle which so far this year has been my favorite. As a follow up to that article (I said that was an MS70 and I'd buy a few more to see if I'm lucky), I did buy some more, but none was MS70 quality. Anyway...

The next 2 Canadian coins are probably my joint second favorites of the year. The owl after that is among my top-choices for 2015, while the peregrine falcon, is, IMO, the best design of 2014. If I remember correctly, all of these coins have a 1 million mintage each.

By the way, you'll notice that the 2016 ones have a radial design (to prevent counterfeiting) and one of the interesting side effects of this design is that it produces an insane cartwheel effect (this is a rotating reflection depending the angle you are looking at it - which is like a moving wheel).

When this cartwheel effect is combined with the Superman coin in particular, it's like you are holding something very surreal in your hand. Something straight from ...planet Crypton... you have to see it up close to realize it. The radial cartwheel has a truly magical effect on the S coin.

1. Cougar 2016 / 1oz silver / Canada

https://s18.postimg.org/eivgt1r93/puma1336.jpg

2. Superman 2016 / 1 oz silver / Canada

https://s18.postimg.org/xpd99yx4n/superman48.jpg

3. Great Horned Owl 2015 / 1 oz silver / Canada

https://s18.postimg.org/9ufgxv22f/canadaowl33.jpg

4. Flying Peregrine Falcon 2014 / 1 oz silver / Canada

https://s18.postimg.org/lktef8uuv/canadahawk17.jpg

Photographic settings: Compact Sony DSC-WX220 / ISO 100 / EV -1.0 to -2.0 / Natural Light (Cloudy)

Copyright notice: I release these in the public domain, for use or edit, by anyone, for any reason, with no attribution required.