20 Dollars - Elizabeth II Four Seasons of the Maple Leaf, Canada

Like a year in the life snapshot of a Canadian icon, your coins image by Margaret Best traces the sugar maple tree and its leafs progression through the seasons. A finely engraved maple tree and its mirror image are each divided in half to create quadrants representing spring, summer, fall and winter, helped by artistic touches that stand in for Mother Natures ever-changingcolour palette. The coloured upper left quadrant steps into a spring landscape, where the maples branches are covered in the reddish-brown buds featured in the enlarged view near the centre. The engraved upper right quadrant leaps ahead to a mid-summer day, where selective gold plating mimics the effect of sunlight on the maples broad summer foliage. In the coloured lower right quadrant, the fall scene is a tapestry of brilliant red, yellow and orangehues that famously give Canada its fall colours, while the leafs curled edges allude to the seasonal shedding of leaves in preparation for winter. Inthe engraved lower left quadrant, the maples frosted silhouette embodies the resilient spirit of Canadians who embrace our northern climate, even in the face of winters fury, while the withered leaf is highlighted with selective gold plating for an elegant contrast. Coupled with the coins eggshape, which traditionally symbolizes renewal, the addition of a pair of maple keys is significant: thewinged seeds represent the future of the maple and hint at the timelessness of this continuous seasonalcycle.

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Margaret Best

Head of Queen Elizabeth II, as at 77 years of age, bare headed, wearing necklace and earrings, facing right.

Susan Taylor

Susanna Blunt

Interrupted serrations