2012 Canada 50-cent Santa’s Magical Visit Lenticular Coin

LENTICULAR COIN

The sixth issue in the Royal Canadian Mint’s popular annual series of holiday lenticular coins. A coin that, like Santa himself, kindles joy in the hearts of children young and old: tip it back and forth to see the warm holiday scene change!

This holiday-themed lenticular coin has a diameter of 35 millimetres and a weight of 12.61 grams. This cupronickel coin features a dual image that lenticulates between the images based on the angle at which it is viewed from. The reverse features two vibrantly coloured images of Santa unloading gifts in a cosy holiday parlour, by Canadian artist Tony Bianco. In the first image, Santa has just arrived. At the centre of the image, he kneels on one knee, his package-filled red bag slung over his left shoulder. He is dressed in his traditional holiday garb: red velvet suit and cap lined in white fur, black boots, black gold-buckled belt. His bespectacled eyes peek out from behind a voluminous snowy beard. With his white-gloved right hand, he raises his index finger before his mouth in the universal “hushing” gesture: quietly, now, don’t wake the sleeping children! He kneels at the foot of a glowing holiday tree festooned with gold and red glass decorations. In the background is an old-fashioned fireplace. On the mantle, two little empty red and white holiday stockings hang. Two decorative nutcracker soldiers stand guard at the foot of the fireplace. In the second image, Santa’s unloading procedure is well underway. Against the background details of the first image (except now green gift boxes peek out from the stuffed stockings on the mantle), Santa stands before his bag, removing gifts. A large pile of ribboned gift boxes now stands before him, in the lower left-hand corner of the scene. A teddy bear sits atop the pile of gifts now revealed inside Santa’s bag. The images switch when the coin is tipped; a feature rendered using lenticular technology.

Diameter: 35mm
Weight: 12.61g
Obverse: Queen Elizabeth II
Reverse: Shhhh/Santa with presents
Quantity Produced: 25000