2014 Fractional Maple Leaf Four-Coin Set Pure Gold

The leaf of the strong, resilient and bountiful sugar maple has long been a symbol of Canada. The beloved Acer saccharum, found readily across this land's rugged northeastern forests, has something to offer all year long, from the shade provided by its broad leaves in summer and the glory of its vibrant red, purple and orange leaves in autumn to the delicious wonder of its sap in springtime.

The reverse of the coins in this set feature an image of three incuse-struck sugar maple leaves. Incuse is a method of coin-striking that dates to the dawn of human coining, which involves striking an image down into the metal rather than creating a relief. The earliest coin samples, from ancient Lydia and most of ancient Greece, were struck with rectangular punches that left an incuse impression on one side of the coin. Ancient coin-makers later integrated into the process a hand-carved bronze die which would impart a relief design on one side of the coin. Eventually, they innovated with the use of a second die. In some cases, this second die would be used to create a relief image on the reverse of the coin; in others, it was carved in intaglio, allowing coin-makers to produce coins with a relief image on one side and incuse on the other.

Includes:
• 2014 Fractional Maple Leaf Four-Coin Set Pure Gold