Lake Louise Model for New High Relief Technology

The 2021 Lake Louise silver $50 commemorative proof coin offers the first Royal Canadian Mint use of their new Extraordinary High Relief (EHR) technology. Using EHR the RCM has realized their highest relief ever on a 50 millimeter coin. The detail achieved with 82.3 grams of silver brings the magnificence of the Canadian Rockies to life on this lovely coin.

RCM engraver, Ryan Poser explained that, “Using satellite mapping data, we were able to translate the geography of the Lake Louise area into a 3D model—a first for us! Despite the technical challenges of creating height and rendering the mountain range in fine detail, the final product is truly a stunning and unique representation of Canadian geography.”

On this release the RCM has used turquoise colored enamel for Lake Louise, so you can spot it immediately among the mountain peaks of Banff National Park. The mountain terrain seems extremely realistic, especially with the frosting on top of the peaks and glaciers which lend them a snow-capped appearance.

These effects are an achievement realized through the RCM’s engineering and engraving team’s cooperation. The map theme is extended to the obverse where contour lines can be seen behind the Susanna Blunt effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Yannick Cormier, Senior Research Engineer in the R & D department of the RCM offered additional background on the execution of this challenging design. “The Lake Louise coin is another great innovation from the Royal Canadian Mint. We can appreciate the relief’s details of the mountains around Lake Louise area, which are located on multiple areas and non-centered on the coin, whereas for typical coins, the high relief area is centered. The maximum relief height for a typical 50mm diameter is 0.25mm while for this coin the maximum relief is more than 15 times higher! Another novelty is we were able to introduce real-life topographic satellite data in our design software in order to be able to manufacture the die as close as we can to replicate the real topography of the area on the coin.”

The Lake Louise $50 silver proof is on sale now at the Royal Canadian Mint web store at https://www.mint.ca/store/coins/coin-prod3800047 but act fast as over 80 percent of the mintage limit of 3,000 pieces has already been sold.

If you miss obtaining this coin directly from the RCM, don’t despair. There are several distributors already offering the Lake Louise coin on their web sales sites. Try APMEX at www.apmex.com or Power Coin at www.powercoin.it