2019 Canada $20 Sky Wonders: Light Pillars – Silver Proof Coin with UV Flashlight

This captivating 2019 $20 fine silver coin captures the magic of a rare natural phenomena that creates a spectacular light show of colour in the coldest of night skies. The effect known as “Light Pillars” appear like multi-coloured columns that shine up, not down. It is an ethereal light display, one perfectly captured in this engraved design that incorporates colour and invisible black light technology. Mintage is limited to 5000.

The Design:

The reverse design by Tony Bianco features a nighttime scene on an extremely cold winter night in Canada. Above the engraved city streets, the clear night sky is coloured and enhanced with invisible black light technology, which re-creates the light pillar optical phenomenon when activated by ultraviolet light. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.

A Winter Wonder:

An unexpected upside to extreme cold weather, light pillars can occur when clouds sit lower in the atmosphere. Within these clouds are millions of hexagonal-plate ice crystals that drift horizontally in the air. And like clusters of tiny mirrors pointing down from different heights, these crystals reflect natural and artificial light from the ground below, and in the same colour emitted by the source.