Canada's New Sundial Coin

If you're looking to add a unique item to your coin collection, the Royal Canadian Mint has released a new piece that not only looks like a sundial but functions as one, too.

The sundial is known as the world's earliest timekeeping device. It's composed of two main parts: a flat circular plate and a dial or stick called a gnomon.

When a sundial is aligned properly, it will tell the local solar time based on where the sun casts its shadow on its surface.

This is essentially how the Mint's new coin functions.

It includes a rhodium-plated brass gnomon. When placed in the sun and pointed in the direction of true north, the gnomon casts a shadow onto the base of the coin, indicating the time.

To read the complete article, see:
Canada just got a stunning new sundial coin that can actually tell time(https://dailyhive.com/canada/royal-canadian-mint-sundial-coin)

The Latest on Counterfeit Toonies

Counterfeit toonies are cropping up in Canada at a rate that is more than doubling every year, Statistics Canada data show.

From 1,300 fake $2 coins reported in 2019, there were 28,666 last year. That's a 22-fold increase over four years in the number of counterfeit toonies deemed to have passed into circulation or been seized before they made it into general circulation.

Counterfeit coins expert Mike Marshall says this is only the tip of the iceberg. The reality of counterfeit coins in Canada is much, much worse, he maintains.

"That is only a drop in the bucket," he says. "Over a 12-month period in the province of Ontario, we were doing reams of coin roll searches all over the province. We went to banks, purchased rolls of toonies, and checked them for counterfeits. We were running between seven and nine per cent counterfeit."

To read the complete article, see:
Mint downplays StatCan, expert's reports on recent proliferation of fake toonies(https://canadiancoinnews.com/mint-downplays-statcan-experts-reports-on-recent-proliferation-of-fake-toonies/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
COUNTERFEIT CANADIAN 'CAMEL TOE' TOONIES(https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n09a30.html)
REALLY BAD FAKE CANADIAN TOONIES(https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n51a25.html)

How to win a Nobel prize

To read the complete article, see:
How to win a Nobel prize(https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-024-02897-2/index.html)