New in numismatics: Ovoid-shaped black light coin commemorates Manitoba UFO sighting

The story was weird enough to elicit disbelief, possibly all the more because the source was a prospector. But something very odd must have caused the burns Stefan Michalak suffered in the Manitoba woods one day in 1967.

His explanation was a UFO. Now the Royal Canadian Mint has commemorated the Falcon Lake Incident with a rather weird item of its own—an unevenly elliptical glow-in-the-dark $20 one-ounce silver coin.

 

 

For dramatic effect, as the Mint explains, “photo-luminescent outlines of the UFO, its beam-like blast and the silhouette of an injured Michalak, glow in the dark under black light. This phenomenal keepsake, and many other new arrivals, are now available for purchase.” A small black light flashlight’s included.
But, as Michalak’s son emphasized to the CBC last year, Stefan never claimed to have seen anything from outer space. He simply described what he did see. He even speculated that it might have been a secret U.S. military vessel. UFO researcher Chris Rutkowski called it “possibly Canada’s best-documented UFO case.”
Just 4,000 copies of the coin have been minted. With a face value of $20, it costs only $129.95.

(Images: Royal Canadian Mint)

Taking unusual contours to an even more unusual level, the Mint also released a set of two yin-yang-shaped pieces that fit together to form a one-ounce silver circle. Suggesting “harmony and balance among opposing forces,” yin and yang each have a $10 face value. But the set will cost you $164.95.
Among the more striking designs recently struck is “an ultra-high relief engraving” of the Kwakwaka’wakw Thunderbird image, likely to send chills down the spine of anyone not already shivering in the West Coast rainforest’s lingering winter. Another one-ounce silver coin, this one sells for $149.95.
Some imaginative February releases included a $250 gold coin embedded with 17 rubies and platinum plating to evoke the Queen’s Burmese Tiara. Limited to 175 copies, it costs $6,999.95 with three- or four-month payment plans available. February also saw the Mint’s first five-ounce curved or convex coin, the silver $50 Maple Leaves in Motion. It goes for $579.95 but 99% of the 2,000 coins have been sold.
Each of the collector’s items comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Canada’s coin-casting Crown corporation credits itself as “one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world.”

Greg Klein 

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