This low mintage $20 fine silver coin is the fifth in the extremely popular Group of Seven series, and celebrates the art of Franz Johnston.  The coin is double struck in just over one ounce of pure silver, and feature a near flawless proof finish.  As a pure silver coin, this item is GST/HST exempt.  All of the earlier coins in this series have quickly sold out from the Mint, and most now sell in the secondary market at a premium above the original issue price in the secondary market.

The Design:

This coin features an adaptation of Franz Johnston’s painting, The Guardian of the Gorge. In this detail of the painting, we see massive outcroppings of granite acting as guard and gateway to a vast river canyon. The figurative becomes literal as one notices the figure of a crouching man emerge from the rock and at the crest of the cliff (not seen here), the face of the elderly guardian watches over the vast chasm. The outer frame on the reverse side features the words “CANADA” and “FRANZ JOHNSTON” along with the date “2013” and the face value of “20 DOLLARS.”

Francis Hans Johnston:

Francis Hans Johnston, (later known as Frank or Franz), was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1888. Johnston was a prolific painter, painting over 250 paintings in his career. His paintings became more realistic as his career progressed, and he became interested in the qualities of light. His most popular landscape paintings often included images reflecting in water.